

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Chap.S-^Copyright No. 

Shelf. 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

























































































MRS. RUSSELL CAME TO SIT WITH HER. 





ALICE 


\_y 


AND HER TWO FRIENDS 


\s 

BY REV. CHARLES S. WOOD 


The shell was not filled with pearls until it was contented 

Eastern Proverb 



Philadelphia ;X^\ WA$MV 

Presbyterian Board of Publication 
and Sabbath-School Work 
1896 


Copyright, 1896, by 

The Trustees of the Presbyterian Board 
of Publication and Sabbath 
School Work. 

I'M 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

A Bevy of Schoolgirls 7 

CHAPTER II. 

Cheering a Sufferer 19 

CHAPTER HI. 

The Home of Alice 31 

CHAPTER IV. 

Ethel’s Home 38 

CHAPTER Y. 

A Talk about Jewels 48 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Discontented Pearl Oyster 56 

CHAPTER VII. 

Ethel and Margaret 62 

CHAPTER VIII. 

City Friends 72 

CHAPTER IX. 

A Blackberry Tea 82 


iv 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER X. 

PAGE 

Blackberries are Not Always Sweet 99 

CHAPTER XI. 

Mrs. Russell’s Sabbath-School Class 118 

CHAPTER XII. 

A Quarrel 128 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Talk and Play 138 

CHAPTER XIY. 

An Afternoon Full of Fun 150 

CHAPTER XV. 

A Flower Excursion 166 

CHAPTER XVI. 

The Supper 179 

CHAPTER XVII. 

The Recitations. 190 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Consider the Lilies 205 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Margaret Saves the Train 222 

CHAPTER XX. 

First Fruits 234 

CHAPTER XXI. 

A Startling Discovery 246 


CONTENTS. 


v 


CHAPTER XXII. 

PAGE 


Margaret’s New Friends 252 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

The Harvest 265 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Alice’s Birthday 279 


















































* 




* 





















































































































































































































































































ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 




CHAPTER I. 

A BEVY OF SCHOOLGIRLS. 

Sober little schoolgirl with your strap of books, 

And such grave importance in your puzzled looks ; 

Solving weary problems, poring over sums, 

Yet with tooth for sponge-cake, and for sugar-plums ; 
Reading books of romance in your bed at night, 

Waking up to study in the morning light ; 

Anxious as to ribbons, deft to tie a bow, 

Full of contradictions — I would keep you so. 

Mrs. L. C. Moulton. 

A carriage and a buggy were waiting before 
a large brick building which bore this inscrip- 
tion over the door : — 

Harrison Street 
District School. 

The small city in Ohio, which had erected this 
handsome schoolhouse, was one of the oldest com- 
munities in that region. It had named this street 


8 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS . 


for the first President who had gone from this 
State to occupy the White House. 

There had been showers during the day, and 
the air of this afternoon in May was growing 
cool as it drew on toward four o’clock. Yet 
the sun was shining and its light was reflected 
upward with dazzling effect from the wet cement 
walks. 

The lady in the carriage, although young, had 
a delicate and careworn look. As the primary 
rooms were dismissed she looked eagerly for her 
little daughter among the rows of small children 
who marched rather soberly out of the wide 
arched doorway. Louie Robinson saw her 
mother and came running up to the carriage. 

“ Come, get in Louie, and as soon as Mary 
comes out we will have a ride.” 

“ Lester won’t let me get in, mamma.” 

“ You may sit in behind with me and help 
take care of Ruth.” 

“ Can’t I sit in front and drive ? ” 

“Mary will do the driving, and I promised 
Lester he might sit on the front seat if he was a 
good boy and did not make his mamma any 
trouble. He has been very good to-day and 
played with Ruth when I was busy.” 

Louie pouted a little; but she was a good- 


A BEVY OF SCHOOLGIRLS. 


9 


tempered child, and the unusual pleasure of a 
ride soon overcame her disappointment at not 
having a front seat. She began to tell her 
mother in an interesting way about some inci- 
dent of school. 

Another buggy now came up, rapidly driven 
by an elderly gentleman, whose earnest, strong 
face appeared much more youthful than his gray 
hairs. He glanced over the building and then 
at the carriage. “ Good-evening, Mrs. Kobinson. 
Will it be long before the upper rooms are dis- 
missed? I want my boy and girl, but I can 
hardly wait five minutes for them.” 

u I think they will be out soon, Dr. Pendleton ; 
Louie’s room was dismissed five minutes ago. 
There goes the flag now.” 

The doctor leaned out and glanced up at the 
window over the entrance. A boy was taking in 
a handsome flag that looked somewhat tattered, 
as if it had been in use for some time. 

“ The flag is a good signal that the school 
keeps. I wish there was one over every school- 
house in the land ” said the doctor. “ I believe 
it does the children good to be taught to vener- 
ate it, and to repeat their daily pledge. My 
children have learned a good deal about our 
country this year.” 


10 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


Dr. Pendleton justly felt some pride as he 
looked at the building, for he had worked hard 
and persistently to secure its erection. His pleas- 
ure was not so much in the beautiful appearance 
of the great bow front of the west rooms, or 
in the fine lines of the tower, as in the wide 
windows, and in the other perfect arrange- 
ments for the comfort and health of the 
children. 

66 Doctor, I used to hear my grandmother say 
‘ The School Keeps/ ” 

“ It is an old-fashioned expression. It would 
be a good rallying cry in these days when our 
public schools have so many enemies.” 

But now the drum began to beat, and the 
sound of the triangle was heard. The tramp of 
many feet, keeping step with the music, came 
nearer and grew louder ; when the boys reached 
the stairs the noise was like that of a four- 
horse team rattling over a long bridge. The 
doors flew open and the two boys at the head of 
the files held them back, while the children 
marched out. The hoys came first, four abreast, 
and as each one reached the door, he put on his 
hat or cap, and noisy talk and calls broke out, 
but the rank was not broken nor the step lost until 
the gate was passed. Only a few lingered at the 


A BEVY OF SCHOOLGIRLS. 


11 


fence and these also moved away, as they caught 
sight of a teacher at a window. 

Behind the boys came the girls, also in ranks 
of four. Some wore bright dresses and light 
jackets. Others had on red waists. Many still 
wore their brown or blue winter caps, but some 
had already put on straw hats with gay flowers. 
The dark blue calicoes were trimmed with 
rows of white braid. It was a pretty sight, like 
a flower garden of variegated colors. But the 
most pleasing part of it were the bright faces of 
the hoys and girls, many of them pretty, almost 
all of them lighted up with growing intelligence. 
Just now they were happy with the relief from 
the day’s studies and tedious sitting at their 
desks. This is what the doctor thought as he 
took in his children and drove swiftly down the 
street. 

Mrs. Robinson was about to call Mary, who 
had not noticed her mother in the carriage, when 
her cousin, Alice Russell, a very observing child, 
whose quick eyes took in everything, said to her, 

“ Mary Robinson, there is your mother in a 
carriage. Girls, wait for me at the corner, while 
I speak to Cousin Jennie.” 

Mary and Alice came up to the carriage to- 
gether. 


12 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


“ Mamma, are you here ? I did not expect to 
see you.” 

“ Your father wanted me to have a ride. He 
was going with me early in the afternoon, but it 
rained then and I could not go. Now he is busy 
and sent the carriage for us all.” 

“ Oh, how nice it will be to have a ride ; and it 
will do you good. Can’t we take Cousin Alice ? ” 

“ 1 would like to have you go with us, Alice. 
I cannot promise to take you home. I was going 
down the river road.” 

“Do come, Alice,” said Mary. 

“I wish I could. It will be just fine this 
afternoon ; but mamma expects me to come right 
home to practice. That is always the way. We 
can’t do what we want to do even out of school. 
Stay in school all day and then practice.” 

“ I forgot about your music. I am afraid we 
will not get back very early, and your mother 
might be worried.” 

“ I would like ever so much to go, but mamma 
would object to my going without her permis- 
sion. The girls are waiting for me — Ethel, I am 
coming now,” — this to the impatient group at 
the corner. “ Good-bye, Cousin Jennie. Thank 
you very much, and I hope the ride will do you 
good.” 


A BEVY OF SCHOOLGIRLS. 


13 


u Lester, don’t whip the horse,” Mary said as 
she got in the carriage. “ Maybe I will bring 
you some flowers, Alice.” 

“ Bring me some trilliums if you see any ; 
good-bye.” 

u Good-bye,” shouted all the children. 

Alice hastened to join her friends who were 
waiting, for warm-hearted and impulsive Alice 
was a favorite with all her classmates. 

As she came up Ethel said : 

“ Alice, did you hear about Emma Peters, why 
she was not at school this afternoon ? ” 

“ No ! what is it ? ” she asked, noticing that 
all the girls were full of some news. 

“ She was dreadfully burned,” said Elsie Day- 
ton. 

“ She fell on the red-hot stove. Wasn’t it 
awful ? ” said Rose Gaylord. 

u Susie Peters just now told us,” said Laura 
Fullerton. “ Emma was going to the stove to take 
up some of the dinner and she struck her foot 
against something and fell on the stove. It was 
red-hot and her arm was burned half way up to 
her elbow.” 

“ How sorry I am for her ! She must be suf- 
fering very much,” said Alice, whose sympathy 
was easily roused. 


14 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


“ We ought to go to see her, but I can not go 
this evening/’ said Laura. 

66 1 would not go there for anything. My 
mother will not permit me to go where there is 
such extreme agony.” 

Although the girls were provoked at Ethel’s 
want of feeling, they could not help smiling at 
her grown-up expressions. 

u Extreme agony ! Did you ever ? ” whispered 
Kose to Elsie. 

“ Maybe I can get mamma to go up there to- 
night/’ said Alice ; “ she is always going to see 
the sick and unfortunate as she calls them. I 
am so sorry for Emma. She was sick in the 
winter and got behind in the class, but lately she 
has caught up, and came near being at the head/’ 
and Alice looked down at a rosette of red baby- 
ribbon, pinned on the front of her dress, which 
was the mark of her own rank as first in the 
class. 

Now the conversation changed through Ethel’s 
desire to talk about something else. By this 
time the group of girls had passed the center of 
the city and had come to a rather quiet part of 
the street. Then they turned off upon another 
and larger street. There were just eight of them, 
and they were still walking in a double row, 


A BEVY OF SCHOOLGIRLS. 


15 


thoughtlessly continuing the order in which they 
came out of the school-room. It was not only 
thoughtless, it was also a rude and selfish way of 
walking, as it caused the people they met to turn 
aside to the curbstone or the fences, while the 
girls swept on with unbroken ranks. The girls 
were talking gaily and laughing with the glad 
sense of freedom after the long confinement of 
school hours. The streets, that had been so dull 
nearly all the day, were now bright with gay 
colors and cheerful with the shouts of boys and 
the laughter and busy hum of girls talking and 
calling to each other. 

But one by one the group grew smaller as they 
reached their homes. The eight became seven, 
then six. On the next square three more were 
dropped, then another. Two only were left, and 
soon they stopped at a gate before a handsome 
house. They talked for ten minutes or more 
under the large maple that shaded the walk with 
its half -grown, vivid green May foliage. 

Of the two girls, the one standing on the side- 
walk was the taller by nearly two inches. She 
stood firmly on both feet and looked like a strong, 
ambitious child who usually knew well what she 
wished to do, and was eager in accomplishing it. 
One look at her face inclines to another to study 


16 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


its attractions, and so her picture may be drawn. 
Her brown hair has the gleam of red gold in it 
as a beam of sunlight strays down through the 
tree and falls upon it. In her large blue eyes 
one sees the grace of the early spring violets, and 
then thinks of the depth of the June skies. A 
moment ago the mouth was encircled by a sweet 
smile that showed a pretty dimple on a rosy cheek, 
and the whole face was bright with some pleasing 
thought. But now its lines are drooping, the 
brightness is gone, and a line over the eyebrows 
gives a look of petulance and ill-liumor to this 
lovely girl. This is Alice Russell in whose dis- 
position there are storms as well as sunshine, and 
consequently in her life will be found various 
kinds of weather. Her companion is Ethel 
Donahue, a smaller child in every way — not as 
tall, more slender and delicate. Standing within 
the gate she leaned upon it as if weary. Her dark 
eyes were gleaming and her fair face was lighted 
up with some pleasing thought, about which she 
was eagerly talking. 

And what was it all about? On the way near 
the school the girls passed two boys with large 
piles of hand-bills. To each one they handed 
several, and tossed a handful into the open dinner 
basket of Alice. One would think their task 


A BEVY OF SCHOOLGIRLS. 


17 


would soon be done, if it were to dispose of the 
bills as rapidly as possible without reaching a 
fourth part of the city with the information, but 
that is a way bill-boys have of shortening their 
labors. The bills revived interest in an enter- 
tainment for the next evening which had been 
discussed at school. Scraps of the talk of the two 
girls reached the ears of persons passing. 

“ Alice, you will go, won’t you ? It will be 
very entertaining.” 

“ I want to go ever so much, but I don’t know 
whether I can. I wish mamma and papa went 
out to more concerts. They go only to real good 
ones and never to plays.” 

“ You must make them take you. That is the 
way I do. Tell them how nice it will be and 
tease them to go. Everybody is going. All the 
girls said so. And you get seats near us if you 
can.” 

u I will try, but teasing will not do any good at 
our house,” Alice answered in a very disconsolate 
tone, and with a black frown on her face that 
robbed it of much of its beauty. 

“ I think it will be real mean if you don’t go. 
It will be very aggravating.” 

A smile chased away the frown, as Alice heard 
this long word from her friend. 


18 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


“ If they do not care to go, ask your mother 
to let you go with us. And you can be my guest 
and stay all night with me. I would love to have 
you,” Ethel continued. 

“ They won’t let me do that. I must go home 
now. Good-bye.” 

“ Good-bye. Be sure to go if you can, and run 
down and tell me. Oh, Alice, I want to tell you 
something I heard to-day ; and don’t you ever tell 
any one I told you. W ill you promise ? ” 

Alice nodded. The two little heads were drawn 
too close together for any one to hear, as they 
whispered some secrets of schoolgirl life. 

“ Good-bye. Don’t you ever tell, or I’ll never 
forgive you.” 

“ You can trust me. Good-bye.” 

The girls really separated this time. Ethel went 
to the house, which was her home. Alice, know- 
ing it was late, hurried on with the rapid steps 
of a healthy childhood. The lawns were wider and 
the houses farther apart as she went on for more 
than a quarter of a mile to her father’s house, 
almost out of the city. 


CHAPTER II. 


CHEERING A SUFFERER. 

Is thy cruse of comfort failing ? 

Rise and share it with another : 

And through all the years of famine 
It shall serve thee and thy brother. 

Love divine will fill thy storehouse, 

Or thy handful still renew ; 

Scanty fare for one will often 
Make a royal feast for two. 

Mrs. Elizabeth Charles. 

Soon after Alice entered the house, Mrs. Rus- 
sell’s well-ordered home looked as if a mischiev- 
ous sprite had entered at the same time and 
played some wild pranks. For as she stepped 
into the hall Alice dropped one overshoe in 
the middle of the floor, and one fell by the 
wall. Her umbrella she stood against a chair ; 
but it was an uneasy kind of an umbrella. It 
never liked to stand up, and it had, as it seemed, 
a fashion of running away and getting lost. So 
now it slipped to the floor, and as Alice did not 
pick it up, on the floor it stayed. Into the sit- 


20 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


ting-room she hastened, laid her books on a chair, 
threw her hat on the table, and set her dinner 
basket on the piano. There was no one in the 
room, so she hurried into the dining-room, and 
here, feeling the incumbrance of her coat, she 
pulled it off and left it on the dining-table. Put- 
ting her head out of the door she called into 
the kitchen, where she heard Mary making a 
fire : 

“ Mary, what did you have for dinner to-day ? ” 

Now Mary might have told all the dishes of 
that nice dinner she had cooked, but knowing 
what Alice wanted she only said, 

“ Your ma made a lovely chocolate pudding.” 

“ Oh, chocolate pudding ! I hate it ; but you 
may get me some. Where’s mamma?” 

“ She is in her room, sewing.” 

Alice hurried upstairs to her mother’s room 
and burst out with what was in her mind. 

“ Mamma, there is going to be the loveliest 
concert to-morrow night at the Opera House. 
Can’t we go ? Here is one of the programs,” — 
handing her a yellow hand-bill. 

Mrs. Russell took it and looked it over care- 
fully. 

“ Alice, you do not want to go to that concert.” 

<f Oh, yes, I do,” said Alice, a little encouraged 


CHEERING A SUFFERER. 


21 


by this answer. u Ever so many of the girls are 
going.” 

u You must be mistaken. They may wish to 
go, but I do not think their parents will approve 
of such a performance. That company has been 
here before and will not draw a first-class house. 
The music is inferior ; those comic songs are 
coarse, and it ends with a very poor play.” 

“ But Ethel is going. They have tickets ; 
and, mamma, I want to go. It will be so much 
fun. Ethel says you laugh all the time when 
that actor, Joe, takes part or sings.” 

u Y ery likely ; but I cannot let you go to hear 
him. When he was here the last time Katrina 
went — she was living here then. She said she 
was very glad her company did not understand 
German for that actor said some words in German 
that were unfit to be heard.” 

“ Oh, mamma, you know how I love music, and 
we do not hear much good music in this town, 
only the recitals when the girls play.” 

“ There were two nice concerts and the Quin- 
tette club last winter. And don’t you remember 
what a delightful time you had in Columbus, 
when your father took you to hear the Symphony 
Concert? For a young girl I think you have 
had a good many opportunities of hearing good 


22 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


music this year. My daughter, you must trust 
our judgment in seeking for you the best pleas- 
ures.” 

Mrs. Bussell smiled upon Alice, but it was 
plain from her manner that the child was very 
much disappointed. Her mother rose and they 
went downstairs. 

“ Why, my daughter, pick up your things at 
once. I thought you were learning to be more 
orderly. And now get your lunch.” 

Alice did as her mother requested, but while 
she was eating she remembered the new dress her 
little friend had shown her that morning, and 
taking her saucer of pudding she sat down by 
her mother. 

“ Ethel has a new dress, a perfectly elegant 
dress. She is going to wear it to-morrow even- 
ing.” 

“ I know it. I saw her trying it on at the 
dressmaker’s.” 

“ Isn’t it lovely ? W on’t you get me one like 
it ? Please do.” 

“ It is very handsome material, but too rich and 
dressy for you. And then it is too costly.” 

“ I wish we had as much money as they have. 
Ethel has such beautiful rings, and so many pretty 
things in her room.” 


CHEERING A SUFFERER. 


23 


“ Alice, my dear, let us talk of something else. 
It is not good for you to be wishing for new 
dresses and ornaments all the time. How did 
you get along in geography to-day ? ” 

“ But, mamma, I want a new dress,” said Alice, 
ignoring her mother’s question. 

“No, Alice, you do not need any more dresses 
at present. As soon as you have finished your 
practicing you may go with me to ride. There 
will be time before tea for us to go to Meyer’s 
and get some plants for that new flower bed near 
the gate. You may help me choose them.” 

This pleased Alice very much, who delighted in 
flowers. The playing on the piano also helped to 
drive away her petulance and discontent. Often 
when she was in such a mood she would sit down 
at the piano, and the music would charm away the 
evil spirit that possessed her. When she had fin- 
ished her exercises she thought of Emma, and 
told her mother about her sad accident. 

Mrs. Russell was very much concerned about 
Emma, and at once her sympathy took the active 
form of doing something to comfort and help her. 
She thought a great deal of this eldest daughter 
of a poor widow with five children. She admired 
her faithfulness at home, although she was so 
anxious to go on as rapidly as she could with her 


24 


ALICE AND HER TIVO FRIENDS . 


studies. Therefore, Mrs. Russell decided to drive 
to Mrs. Peters’, and to put off the trip to the 
florist’s until the next day. Alice asked if she 
could not take Emma something. 

“Yes;” said her mother, “there are some 
bananas in the dining-room.” 

“ I will make her eat one while I am there ; for 
if I leave them she will divide them with all the 
little Peterses, and keep only a small piece for her- 
self. They are the hungriest children you ever 
saw, always eating and always wanting more.” 

“ They are like some older girls, who should 
know better, and who have many things, but are 
not satisfied and want more. Is it as bad to be 
hungry for more to eat, as to be wishing for new 
dresses when one has a good many ? ” 

Alice hung her head at this close application of 
her own remark, only muttering in a low voice, 
that she did not think it was quite the same. 
Her mother took no notice of this, being sure she 
would think about it. 

After they had started, Alice said : 

“ Louie Robinson thinks Susie Peters steals her 
lunch at school.” 

“ Don’t believe it, Alice. Mrs. Peters’ chil- 
dren are not of that kind. She has brought them 
up very carefully, that they should be truthful 


CHEERING A SUFFERER. 


25 


and honest. I know it. She is doing well in 
these hard times to have plenty for them to eat 
and wear. She works hard, and does everything 
so neatly that people are glad to have her help, 
and so she gets plenty to do.” 

Mrs. Peters lived not very far from Mrs. Rus- 
sell, and a few minutes’ ride brought them there. 
Her home was a little brown house of four rooms 
below, and a half-story above divided into two 
rooms. The best thing Mr. Peters had done for 
his family was buying this place, and saving his 
money carefully until he had made the last pay- 
ment on it but a short time before he died. It had 
never been painted until Ned Peters, who was a 
lad of fifteen, two and a half years older than 
Emma, spent his summer evenings covering up 
the cracked and warped boards with a pretty coat 
of brown. Ned was an industrious boy. He 
worked in the woolen factory from the day he 
was fourteen years old. As Mrs. Russell and 
Alice drove up, they saw him busy in the garden. 
The factory was running on half time now, and 
Ned had plenty of time for gardening. The lot 
around the house was a large one, and Ned had it 
nearly all planted with potatoes, onions, cabbages, 
and some summer vegetables. His mother laugh- 
ingly complained that he had not left her room to 


26 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS . 


hang up her clothes line. He had his little brother 
Johnnie at work helping him by picking up the 
weeds he was hoeing out. Alice heard him say, 
as he threw out a dandelion : 

u Here’s another little green man ; we will boil 
him for dinner to-morrow. And here’s a brownie ; 
he is no good. Put him in the basket, and Will 
will give him to the pig to eat.” 

But Johnnie was not there. He had gone to 
the gate to see who was coming ; and Ned came, 
too, for a few minutes, and then went back to his 
work. 

When Mrs. Russell and Alice went in, they 
found Emma’s arm was not burned very much, 
but her hand and wrist were seriously injured. 
She was lying on the bed with her left hand and 
arm covered with a large white cloth. 

As Mrs. Peters was lifting the cloth Mrs. Russell 
said, 

“ Do not disturb her.” 

But she went on removing it. On the child’s 
hand and wrist were pieces of thin cloth saturated 
with some cooling application that would keep out 
the air and allay the inflammation. Her face 
was drawn with pain as her mother gently laid 
the cloth over her hand again, and a groan escaped, 
although she evidently tried to suppress it. 


CHEERING A SUFFERER . 


27 


“ I am so sorry, Emma. How did it happen ? ” 
asked Alice. 

Mrs. Peters was beginning to tell about it when 
Emma said, 

“ Mother, send Willie out to Ned,” pointing to 
her youngest brother, about three years old. 

When he was gone Emma told how she was 
hurt. She was hurrying to the stove to take up 
the dinner, when she saw Willie had caught hold 
of a cup of boiling water on the table and was 
dragging it off. Turning to catch it before he 
could scald himself, her foot slipped, and as 
she fell her hand struck against the stove where 
it was very hot. 

u It was very awkward of me.” 

“ No ! no ! ” said Mrs. Russell. “ My dear 
girl, it was very kind and thoughtful to try to 
save your little brother without thinking of your- 
self. You could not help it.” 

“ Hear that blessed child blaming herself, 
when there’s no telling what a dreadful burn 
Willie might have got, and she saved him from it. 
The next minute he would have had the hot 
water all over him,” said her mother. 

“ No doubt of it, Mrs. Peters. Dear Emma, 
don’t think of blaming yourself in any way,” 
said Alice. 


28 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


“ It will be harder for mother, and she had a 
hard enough time before. I can’t help her till 
my hand gets well again.” 

“ Never mind about your mother, we will take 
care of her. When she can leave you she will find 
work every day now. And you can take care of 
Willie while she is gone. Don’t you see ? you can 
be useful while you are staying at home ; and you 
can study at home too.” 

u So I can. Thank you, Mrs. Russell, you make 
me feel better already.” 

“ You are a brave little girl, and you will see 
that you have a good many friends.” 

Alice now opened the basket they had brought, 
and gave Emma the bananas, and, as she had said 
she would, persuaded Emma to eat one then. 

“I brought you some old muslin and linen, 
Mrs. Peters, for I thought you might need it,” 
said Mrs. Russell, handing her the basket. 

“ Thank you ; it will be very handy. I have 
very little fit to use in the house. The children 
wear everything completely out before they get 
done with old things. But I think cloth would 
not make this basket so heavy, Mrs. Russell. 
Look at these nice things, Emma.” And Mrs. 
Peters took out a can of fruit and two glasses of 


CHEERING A SUFFERER. 


29 


Susie’s eyes were dancing and a broad smile 
spread over her face. 

Alice said, 

“ The jelly is for you, Emma.” 

The smile on Susie’s face went in doors again, 
but Mrs. Russell noticing it all said, 

“ There will be some more when that is gone, 
Susie.” 

Soon after this Alice and her mother went 
home, leaving Emma much encouraged by their 
visit and kind words. 

That evening Alice said she wanted to give 
Emma something to comfort her while she was 
suffering so much. Mrs. Russell saw that their 
visit had done Alice herself some good, 

“ For the heart grows rich in giving, 

All its wealth is living again.” 

The kindly sympathy for Emma was reacting 
upon Alice and lifting her up out of her selfish, 
envious thoughts of that afternoon. As she saw 
Emma’s patience in such severe pain, and knew 
that she had not a word of blame for the little 
meddler who had thoughtlessly caused it, she 
was filled with a great admiration for her loving, 
self-sacrificing spirit. She did not say anything 
more that evening about the dress or the concert, 
but she told her father and Edgar and Mary all 


30 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


about Emma and the little Peterses. She asked 
her mother what she could give Emma. 

“ If/’ said her mother, “ you wish to give her 
a present because you feel sorry for her, pick out 
something from your own things that you think 
are nice.” 

Alice went up to her room and to the play- 
room and looked over her possessions, and talked 
the matter over with her mother. She concluded 
that a hook would be best, and selected The 
Chatterbox , of last year. She knew that Emma 
liked to read, and while she was getting well 
would enjoy reading when she could not do any- 
thing else. 

But Alice, though not a great reader, liked to 
keep her books, and she could not at first make up 
her mind to part with this one, which she had read 
several times. At last, however, after picking out 
some other things and rejecting them, her sym- 
pathy for Emma gained the victory over self. 

“ I will take the book to her to-morrow,” she 
said. 

Her father and mother smiled, well-pleased, 
for they knew that having once made up her mind 
she would not change it. The next morning 
she started earlier than usual and went around 
by Emma’s on her way to school, and carried 
the book to her little friend. 


CHAPTER III. 

\ 

THE HOME OF ALICE. 


O happy house ! whose little ones are given 
Early to thee, in faith and prayer — 

To thee, their Friend, who from the heights of heaven 
Guard’st them with more than a mother’s care. 

O happy house ! where little voices 
Their glad hosannas love to raise ; 

And childhood’s lisping tongue rejoices 
To bring new songs of love and praise. 

Karl Johann P. Spitta. 


Alice was twelve years old. Her home was 
a delightful one. Mr. Russell was a banker ; 
a man with a large brain, and a warm heart, 
whose life was a busy one because he took an 
interest in all that concerned the welfare of the 
city where he lived. In business, in public af- 
fairs, in the church, his opinion was sought and his 
counsel valued. He found rest and relief from 
care after business hours by gratifying his natural 
taste for gardening. He loved his home and 
enjoyed making it more beautiful. Brought up 

on a farm, he liked to dig and plant, to trim 

31 


32 


ALICE AND. HER TWO FRIENDS. 


trees and vines, and see 66 green things growing.” 
On a part of the property where his father had 
lived he had built a beautiful house. Keeping 
several acres for his own use he had sold off the 
rest of the farm in city lots. There was a large 
lawn in front and on one side of the house. On 
the other side was a garden, fenced off to keep 
out the chickens. On the lawn there were several 
sturdy oak trees, one of which was nearly one 
hundred feet high, and the others stretched out 
great arms that would have made respectable 
trees in themselves. 

One splendid elm stood like a sentinel near 
the large gate, its roots watered by a small 
stream that flowed from a spring. Elm trees 
love the water and when growing near a stream 
they spread their branches out far and wide on 
every side, and bend them gracefully down to 
the grass below, seeming like gigantic umbrel- 
las to shelter the cows from the sun’s fierce sum- 
mer heat. Such a tree was this one, and beneath 
it was Alice’s favorite playground. Many a happy 
hour she had spent here, sailing little boats that 
Edgar made for her, and catching minnows and 
craw-fish — “ crawdaddles ” she called them. 
These she kept in an aquarium, which was 
nothing but a large stone crock. Her home was 


THE HOME OF ALICE. 


33 


nearly the last house on one of the main streets, 
and almost a mile from the Court House Square. 
Mr. Russell, Alice’s father, was a great lover of 
roses and had a number of new varieties, be- 
sides his old favorites. The Russell home was 
furnished in the same good taste without great 
expense, and in pleasing simplicity. 

A very different home was Ethel’s. Here 
were all the latest styles in furnishing and deco- 
ration ; and a new fashion was sometimes added 
to an older one in a way that was almost ridic- 
ulous. The eye was not delighted but wearied 
with the inharmonious colors, and ill-assorted 
hangings and furniture. The parlor was more 
like a museum than a pleasant room in which 
to receive and entertain visitors and friends. 
Mrs. Russell was much troubled by the impression 
the Donahues’ show of wealth was making on Alice. 
Alice was fond of dress and ornament, and was 
often discontented because she could not have 
all she wanted. When she saw the rich presents 
Ethel constantly received she envied her. Envy 
is a serious and ugly fault, and if allowed 
to grow unchecked, it may lead not only to 
coveting, but also to stealing and other wrong 
things. But it should be said for Alice, that 
she was a very active child. She liked change 
3 


34 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


and variety, and it must be confessed her home 
was a quiet one. Some children are never happy 
unless they are having something new. It is a 
dull day when they do not go somewhere or have 
a little friend come in, or think of some new 
play. They want new clothes or playthings. If 
one girl has a present, her friends go to see it 
and admire it, and then they all want one just 
like it. There are other children that are more 
quiet, and like to play the same games day after 
day, and to sit in a quiet nook and pore over 
a favorite book. Alice liked to read, but not 
always. There were seasons when her books and 
her St. Nicholas were her delight, but at other 
times she seemed to care little for them. 

There were but the two children in the family. 
Her brother Edgar was several years older than 
Alice. He had graduated last year at the high 
school, and now had a position in the bank. 
He had always been a good companion to Alice, 
and she thought all the world of him ; but 
he had now come to that age when a young 
man’s mustache is growing and takes up much 
of his thought and when young ladies take a 
good deal of his time, out of business hours, so 
that Alice did not get as much attention from her 
brother now as she had been accustomed to have. 


THE HOME OF ALICE. 


35 


Her father and mother had not perceived as 
clearly as they should, that the energy of her 
disposition was largely the cause of her discontent 
and envy, but they were beginning to notice it, 
and were soon to have their eyes opened. The 
next evening after the visit to Emma, Mr. 
Russell’s family went to the weekly prayer 
meeting. When they returned home Alice began 
to tease her father to buy her a watch. She 
did not know that he and her mother had 
decided to give her one on her next birthday, 
which would come in a few months. One of 
her school friends, Elsie Dayton, had received a 
small silver watch from her aunt in New York, 
for whom Elsie had been named. All the girls 
then wished they had been named for aunts, who 
would invite them for long visits and give them 
watches. Mr. Russell told Alice he hoped to get 
her a watch when she was older and knew how 
to value and take care of a good one. He said 
he did not want to be teased about it ; that he 
was pleased with the progress she was making in 
geography and language exercises (two studies 
she did not like very well), and that if she con- 
tinued to do as well the next year, he would get 
her one, after a while, when she would appreciate 
it more. 


36 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


Alice was very much pleased with this kind 
promise. As she was an ambitious child the 
prospect of hard study did not frighten her. She 
said, 

“ Thank you, papa, and I will promise to 
study hard and succeed with those lessons that 
I do not like.” 

That night Mr. and Mrs. Russell had a talk 
about Alice’s envious disposition. It troubled 
them very much ; for, as Mrs. Russell said, envy 
eats the heart out of love. It grows out of self- 
ishness and makes it stronger. It drives away 
happiness and leaves in its place discontent and 
often hatred. 

They had many sources of pleasure in their 
home and among their friends, but they cared 
more for the right development of their daugh- 
ter’s character than for anything else. 

They asked themselves if they were doing 
right in denying Alice many of the things she 
desired so ardently. They thought of the many 
things she had, and that they frequently gave 
her, and decided that they could not do more 
without encouraging her love of dress and dis- 
play. 

Then, as if by an inspiration, Mrs. Russell said, 
“ I will take Alice with me Saturday to see 


THE HOME OF ALICE. 


37 


Margaret Marshall.” She explained how she 
had called that day on a widow-lady who had 
lately moved to the city, and had found that she was 
an old schoolmate of whom she had not heard for 
ten years or more. Her husband had failed in 
business and then grew sick from discouragement 
and died, leaving them only a little money to live 
on. She had one daughter about the same age 
as Alice. She was somewhat lame, hut a very 
sweet child. 

Mrs. Russell said, “ It will do Alice good to 
see her. It will give her something new to think 
about. If she should like Margaret and see a good 
deal of her this summer, and try to help her, she 
will grow more unselfish by thinking about and 
caring for one who is not as well off as the other 
girls around her. It will be something different 
from her present life. And perhaps we are too 
quiet here. If she had more life and variety at 
home, she might not care so much for new 
dresses and costly ornaments.” 


CHAPTEK IY. 


ethel’s home. 

“ Make home a hive, where all beautiful feelings 
Cluster like bees, and their honeydew bring ; 

Make it a temple of holy revealings, 

And love its bright angel with shadowing wings. 

Then shall it be, when afar on life's billows, 

Wherever your tempest-tossed children are flung, 

They will long for the shades of the home weeping willows, 
And sing the sweet song which their mother had sung.” 

The next morning soon after her breakfast 
Alice ran out to get some flowers. She wanted 
some lilac to take to Miss Henry, her teacher. 
Her mother saw her stepping around carefully, 
for the grass was wet with a heavy dew, and called 
to her, “ Alice, put on your overshoes. You will 
get your feet very wet.” 

“ Oh, mamma, must I ? It is such a bother. 
I will not go where the grass is high.” 

“ Yes, dear. I do not want you to take cold.” 
Alice came in reluctantly and looked for them 
under the old-fashioned hat-rack, but did not 

find them. 

38 


ETHEL'S HOME. 


39 


“ Where are my rubbers, mamma ? ” 

66 They ought to be there. You put them 
there when you picked them from the floor yes- 
terday afternoon.” 

“ They aren’t here now.” 

“ Did you use them again ?” 

“ No. Oh, yes, I did ; and I left them on the 
porch.” And there they were. 

Edgar saw her pulling down the tall bush and 
said, “You cannot reach the white lilac. I will 
take the stepladder and get you some.” 

Alice heard the door-bell ring; and looked 
around the corner of the house. It was her little 
friend. 

“ Good-morning,” said Ethel, as she came to 
the end of the porch and jumped down. 

“ Oh, Ethel, I am so glad you came ; I was just 
getting some flowers for Miss Henry.” 

“ May I get some too ? ” 

“ Certainly. There are oceans of them.” 

“ You girls hold the steps for me while I 
reach up,” said Edgar standing on the top step. 

“Oh, aren’t they lovely?” said Ethel as the 
bunches of fragrant white flowers fell around them 
and on their heads. “ Stop your nonsense, Edgar. 
How can we hold the steps if you keep hitting us 
all the time ? ” 


40 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


This put Edgar up to more mischief. He 
made the steps rock back and forth and called 
to the girls to hold them better, pretending to 
be very much afraid of falling. The girls did 
not see how he was fooling them and were really 
alarmed. Then one leg of the ladder went down 
into a soft spot and Edgar saved himself from 
a fall only by taking a flying leap over Alice’s 
head, and the steps fell down with a great 
clatter. 

“Are you hurt, Edgar?” Alice cried much 
frightened ; but when she saw how he was laugh- 
ing she said, “You were doing all that on pur- 
pose, you naughty boy.” 

After this they got some bridal wreath and 
quince japonica. 

“ There is too much white in your bouquet. 
Get more of these bright red flowers, Alice.” 

“It will please Miss Henry for she is going to 
be married soon, and will like white flowers best.” 

“I want to get some purple lilac for papa. 
He likes it better than white. May I ? ” 

“ Of course you may. You help yourself 
while I go into the garden and pull some radishes 
for my dinner.” 

When Alice came back with her books and 
basket all ready for school, Ethel was gathering 


ETHEL'S HOME. 


41 


violets, which were spread all through the grass 
so that they looked like a large blue rug on the 
green lawn. 

“ Come Ethel it is time to go to school. Why 
didn’t you get more of the lilac? ” asked Alice, 
seeing that Ethel had a rather dainty bouquet. 

“ I did not want more than one bunch.” 

“ Come on, Ethel, we ought to go ; ” but she 
seemed in no hurry, and went on picking violets. 
Alice became very impatient. 

“ We will be late Ethel, and lose all our 
recesses for this week.” 

“ I don’t care,” Ethel answered ; but directly 
she got up and arranged her flowers and off they 
started. 

“ Let’s run as far as the next corner, Alice. 
Catch me if you can.” 

Away she went, but Alice caught her before 
she reached the corner. 

“ You thought yourself smart. You know I 
can beat you running.” 

“ Don’t let’s run any more. I’m all in a glow 
now. 

“Did you have a nice concert? ” 

“Some parts of it were funny. The music 
was stupid. You did not miss very much by not 
going.” 


42 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


The recollection of the night before seemed un- 
pleasant, for Ethel sighed and looked very sad. 
Wealth cannot buy happiness, nor bribe sorrow 
and trouble to stay away from human hearts. 

“ What makes you sigh and look so sorry ? ” 

“ Oh, I don’t know,” answered Ethel, who did 
not care to tell her feelings. She was in truth 
thinking of her father, who had stayed out very 
late, and had not yet risen when she left home. 
He was apt to have a headache and not feel well 
when he did so, and, young as she was, she knew 
that something was wrong. 

When they reached her house the girls went 
in. Ethel found that her father had not yet come 
to his breakfast ; so she brought a handsome vase 
and arranged the purple lilac and violets in it. 
Placing it by his plate on the breakfast table, 
she said to her mother : 

“ Tell papa, I left him my love.” 

Then the two girls hurried on to school. 
They were entirely unconscious of the silent, but 
very sweet and powerful message that spoke 
to the heart of the weary and troubled man 
who sat down not long after this in the dining- 
room. 

“ What would you like this morning, James ? 
Maggie is broiling you a piece of steak. The 


ETHELS HOME. 


43 


coffee is hot and good. Shall I boil an egg ? It 
will only take a few minutes/ ’ 

u Thank you ; no. I want no tasteless eggs 
this morning. I have no appetite. My mouth 
is hot and parched, and my head aches. I will 
relish the steak better than anything else.” 

He took up the morning paper, glanced over 
it for two or three minutes and threw it aside. 

Then he noticed the flowers, and lifting the 
vase, smelled the lilac eagerly. 

“ Where did these come from ? ” 

“ Ethel left them with her love for you. She 
could not wait till you came down, for it was 
time to go to school. She went up to Mr. Rus- 
sell’s for Alice, and got them there.” 

u I wish we had some lilac,” said Mr. Donahue, 
smelling it again. “ It was my mother’s favorite 
flower.” 

A vision of his now sainted mother came before 
him. He saw the old home, the lilac bush by 
the well, and his mother pausing in her busy 
morning to gather flowers for the children as they 
started to school. He thought “ Does she know 
in heaven how I live and act, and see me when I 
fall ? I wish I were like her, pure and free from 
sin.” Then he said to his wife : 

“ With all your fine things and fancy plants, 


44 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


begonias, caladiums, and hydrangeas, you haven’t 
any lilacs, and there is nothing half so sweet.” 

“ Our grounds are small for large bushes and 
lilacs are so wide-spreading and scraggy that they 
are unsightly. But if you wish I will get a bush. 
It will be a long time before it blooms however. 
Where can we put it ? ” 

“I know what I can do. There is a fine bush 
by that old cellar on Mellvaine’s farm, where the 
old house stood. I think he will sell it to me. 
I’ll see him about it this morning when I go out 
that way, and if he will do it I will have it taken 
up with plenty of earth and root. I can cut it 
back some and it will not be hurt, for it is hard 
to kill a lilac ; and we will put it right out there 
by that window, so we can have the smell of the 
flowers when we are eating. Then, too, it will 
screen us from the prying eyes of those imperti- 
nent neighbors, who are looking in here now to 
see how late I am at my breakfast.” 

“ I wish you had not gone down town again 
last night.” 

“ I, too, wish I had stayed at home. I would 
be two hundred dollars better off this morning if 
I had.” 

“ Why, James ! Is it possible ? You were not 
playing cards ? ” 


ETHELS HOME. 


45 


“No. But Johnson had some mighty good 
wine, and I drank more than enough to set my 
head going. Then he urged me to take that 
bunch of cattle I was looking at yesterday, and I 
gave him more than they are worth. He will get 
all the profits and I none, unless beef-cattle go up 
before fall ” 

Mrs. Donahue looked very sober. Two hun- 
dred dollars meant a good deal to her, and the loss 
of it was an argument against wine-drinking which 
she could understand. She made up her mind 
there would be no more wine brought into her 
house, and that she would do all in her power to 
get her husband to give it up altogether. She 
began to see that it might become a dangerous 
habit, as some of her friends had tried in vain 
to show her. 

But Mr. Donahue was not thinking of the 
money loss very much, except that he had let him- 
self be overreached by another man. He knew 
he could soon make plenty more. The weary 
feelings, and the recollections of the night before 
made him very much disgusted with himself. 
He still thought of his dear mother who was 
gone. Taking the flowers with him as he rose, 
he said to his wife : 

“ Tell the dear child when she comes in at 


46 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


noon, I thank her for the flowers. I will not be 
home until late, and you need not wait dinner for 
me.” 

On the street he met Dr. Porter. This wise 
minister who was always looking for an oppor- 
tunity to help his fellow men, stopped for a mo- 
ment’s talk, and finding the way open to Mr. 
Donahue’s heart, he dropped in the seeds of ear- 
nest words, that lived and grew, and bore fruit 
in after months. 

While the children were bent over their books 
at school, the message of love and the beautiful, 
sweet smelling flowers were powerful influences, 
turning the father’s thoughts to the sacred past, 
and drawing him to a better life. The resolution 
he made that morning, that it would be a long 
time before he would take another glass of wine, 
he faithfully kept. 

The fragrance of flowers is one of the wise and 
subtle influences by which God appeals to man. 
Added to the beauty of the flower it gives it the 
finished touch of perfection. Its presence is a 
delight to the heart of a child, and in after years 
its faint scent touches the springs of memory and 
recalls the past. There is nothing that so quickly 
and powerfully awakens old associations as some 
familiar and pleasant odor. It brings back to the 


ETHELS HOME. 


47 


mind a picture of the home of childhood and the 
sunny days of youth. Most surely it recalls the 
form and face of the mother who loved flowers, 
and taught her children their beauty, and leads 
on to the recollection of many other of her teach- 
ings in those innocent early years. So Mr. Don- 
ahue went through the business of the day, carry- 
ing in his heart the feelings and thoughts which 
some sweet poet has thus expressed : 

“ I long for the touch of your hands, mother. 

To linger again on my hair ; 

Ah ! would it could smooth with tenderest touch 
From my brow the wrinkles of care. 

“ I long for a kiss from your lips, mother, 

As of yore they were pressed to mine ; 

How the hot tears gush from my burning eyes, 

When I think of that happy time.” 


CHAPTER Y. 


A TALK ABOUT JEWELS. 

Oh, maidens fair, with shining hair, 

And cheeks and lips like strawberry-tips, 

With springing feet that upward still 
Essay to gain life’s summit hill ; 

Oh think before you reach the height. 

To gather jewels by the way, 

As now you may 
On left and right, 

For strewn beside your path they lay — 

The pearls of faith forever pure, 

Diamonds of hope forever bright, 

And charity’s sweet gems of light, 

That will endure, 

And weave a crown so beautiful, 

Filled in with loves so dutiful, 

That when you come to totter down 
“ The other side,” your lives may be 
A benediction, as to me 
Is our blest mother’s at eighty-three. 

Mrs. Gage. 

In the evening Mr. Russell asked Alice to play 
for him on the piano. 

“ You have not heard my two new pieces, 

have you, papa ? ” 

48 


A TALK ABOUT JEWELS. 


49 


“ No, I believe not. Play them for me, and 
then give me my favorites from Schumann and 
Mendelssohn.” 

Alice played these very well, for she took great 
pleasure in her music, and was thorough in her 
daily practicing. Then they went out on the 
porch. The evening was warm, for a south wind 
had driven away the chilly dampness of the rainy 
days early in the week. Mr. Russell sat in his 
large easy-chair, while Alice was lazily swinging in 
her hammock. A robin was singing its evening 
song near its nest in the oak at the side of the 
house. 

The moon peeped at Alice through the trees 
and then hid her laughing face behind some 
fleecy clouds, that did not, however, veil her 
beauty, but borrowing brilliancy from her light, 
threw a lovely halo around her. 

Mr. Russell noticed that Alice was turning 
her ring around on her finger ; she was not think- 
ing of her rings, however, but watching the play 
of the moonlight and shadows on the ground, 
chasing each other like white and dark fairies. 

Her father said : 

(( Do you know the meaning of a ring as a 
present ? ” 

66 It is a gift to one we love.” 


50 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


“ Yes ; and as it is a circle, it has no end, and 
so is a symbol of a love that is endless. You 
are fond of rings and other ornaments. Have 
you ever thought of the jewels the Bible tells us 
to seek and wear ? ” 

“ Why, papa, what can you mean ? I did not 
know the Bible tells us to wear jewels. ,, 

“ There is the pearl of great price. Do you 
remember the parable about that ? It is a symbol 
of the great value of our salvation, and of the love 
and constant friendship of our Saviour for us in 
every duty and trial of our lives. To gain this 
for our own possession we may well give up 
everything else, for it is of far more value than 
any earthly thing.” 

“I have seen two or three pearls at Mrs. 
Donahue’s. What other jewels are mentioned in 
the Bible ? In heaven I know there are gates of 
pearl, and streets of gold, and precious stones in 
the walls, but I do not know of any other places 
where it tells about jewels.” 

“ W ell, my dear, in the first chapter of Prov- 
erbs an ornament is recommended to children. 
‘ My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and 
forsake not the law of thy mother : for they shall 
be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and 
chains about thy neck.’ ” 


A TALK ABOUT JEWELS. 


51 


u That is a text for you, papa. It says 6 my 
son/ not 6 my daughter/ ” 

“ That is a fair hit, Alice. I think I have 
tried and succeeded, partly, at least, in obey- 
ing it. I have obeyed my parents’ instructions. 
I might have done better certainly ; then they 
would have become more of an ornament to 
my character. But I know they have made me 
useful and happy, while some of the boys whose 
parents gave them good instruction have not fol- 
lowed their counsel and have become bad men. 
Two of those boys are drunkards and one is in the 
penitentiary and it is all their own fault. But 
I think Solomon meant that for girls, too, though 
I will find one that is surely intended for girls. 
In the fourth chapter he advises all children to 
get wisdom for it is the principal thing. What 
do you think of that, dear ? ” 

“ I thought it took people a good while 
to learn to be wise, papa. Old people are 
wise.” 

“ Then the sooner young people set about 
learning to be wise the better. A wise child or 
young woman is a refreshing sight, and a great 
comfort to every one that knows her. Solomon 
says, ‘ wisdom shall give to thine head an orna- 
ment of grace : a crown of glory shall she deliver 


52 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


to thee.’ Don’t you think a crown of glory is a 
rather grand ornament ? 

“ But the girls are not left out of the Bible, 
and you may be sure it has something to say 
about a taste that is almost universal. Where is 
there a girl who does not delight in jewels? 
Therefore, Peter advises them to seek ‘the orna- 
ment of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the 
sight of God of great price.’ That is just the 
text for my restless, discontented daughter. The 
ornament of a meek and quiet spirit. 

“ You ought to begin to seek it now, while 
your habits and your character are forming. 
Faith, love, a pure heart, a patient and obedient 
spirit are ornaments to our character. They will 
make us lovely and lovable in the sight of others 
and well pleasing to God. They are jewels that 
will not fade nor perish, but will grow brighter 
with the eternal years. 

“ And that reminds me of another quality which 
jewels have. They do not wear out. The pre- 
cious stones are hard and durable. You have 
often looked for and counted the jewels in my 
watch. The pinions of the wheels are set in 
them because any kind of metal would soon wear 
away, and the wheels would be loose, and would 
not run true. So these jewels of a good charac- 


A TALK ABOUT JEWELS. 


53 


ter are imperishable. Time only makes them 
brighter. When we enter our heavenly home 
our Saviour has promised to give us a white stone. 
Some people think the diamond is the white stone. 
On the stone a new name will be written or en- 
graved to express our Lord’s peculiar love to each 
one of us as an individual person.” 

While Mr. Russell was talking the robin had 
finished singing. It then drove a blue jay out of 
the tree. It did not want such a thief near its 
nest. This took a few minutes, for the blue jay 
was teasing the robin, as they often do. Now 
the robin was sitting on a limb near the house 
talking to its young family. It first uttered two 
loud warning notes and then two or three brood- 
ing love tones. Then when the robin was at last 
quiet for the night, a whip-poor-will flew over the 
fence, and filled the air with its mournful even- 
ing cry. 

The quiet beauty of the evening had filled the 
heart of restless Alice with an unusual feeling of 
peace, and a vague longing for higher happiness 
than earthly things can give. She could not 
have told just how she felt or what she wanted. 
She thought of the beautiful world she lived in, 
and as she looked up through the trees, and saw 
the moon sailing through the pale blue sky, she 


54 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


wondered how much more beautiful heaven could 
be. Then the white clouds reminded her of white 
angels, and she thought of the pure saints adorned 
with jewels, and with stars in their crowns of 
glory. She wished that the Saviour might be 
her friend and that he would love her, and finally 
take her to heaven. 

Her father’s talk about jewels made quite an 
impression on her mind which she did not soon 
forget. It was a thought which went down deep 
into her heart, and which the Holy Spirit watched 
over, and made one of the powerful influences in 
the development of her character. This night 
was an era in her life, although it was so quiet 
and gentle that she did not know it. In it she 
opened her heart to the truth. She yielded to 
the influence of that loving Spirit of God, who 
watches over people seeking to turn them away 
from evil and to incline them to love high and holy 
things. How often he watches in vain, because 
those he seeks to keep shut their minds against 
his gentle influence ! 

Seeing that her father was in deep thought, 
and feeling that she did not want any more of 
such sober conversation, Alice rose and laid her 
arm around his shoulder. 

“ Now, papa, you look as if you were sailing 


A TALK ABOUT JEWELS, 


55 


away on the other side of the world, or out in the 

sky” 

66 Perhaps I was. I will tell you a story about 
it.” 

“ Oh, that will be delightful, for your stories 
are so original.” 

“ They may be original but they do not seem 
very fresh to me, since they grow out of my own 
experience. But this is different.” 
u What is it to be about ? ” 

66 You said you had not seen many pearls, and 
I suppose you do not know where they come from 
or how they grow, and how they are obtained. 
So I will tell you in a story. I will call it an 
Indian or Persian legend.” 

“ Then it is not your own ” 

“ Oh, yes it will be. I have only taken an old 
Persian proverb and woven a new dress for it 
after an old pattern.” 

u Do pearls grow like plants?” 

“ They grow, hut not like plants. Now listen 
and you will know more about them.” 

Alice went back to her hammock, and her 
father began — 


CHAPTER VI. 


THE DISCONTENTED PEARL OYSTER. 

“ The shell was not filled with pearls until it was contented.” 

Eastern Proverb. 

u Many years ago a pearl oyster lived on the 
bottom of the Indian ocean. Her home was in a 
sheltered spot where the empty shells of some 
gigantic clams, and a large rock protected them 
from their enemies. Here in quiet seclusion she 
was living surrounded by her family who were 
growing fast. Within the mother’s shell was a 
beautiful pearl. It was large, of a lovely pink 
tint, and perfect in form. The young oysters 
admired this very much. Every few days they 
wanted their mother to open her shell wide that 
they might look at it, and see if it had grown 
any larger. 

“ Some of the oldest of these young oysters had 
little pearls of their own growing in their shells. 

“ One of the youngest had none, and this was a 
great grief to her. She kept asking the little ones 


THE DISCONTENTED PEARL OYSTER . 57 


to show their pearls, and wishing that she had 
one. The mother often talked to her about this 
unhappy spirit, in the way that oysters have of 
conversing with each other. There is an old pro- 
verb, 6 as dumb as an oyster.’ But if oysters 
seem dumb to us, that is because we are not bright 
enough to understand their language, and not 
because an oyster has nothing to talk about and 
no way of talking to other oysters. If you have 
noticed how all the birds and animals have a way 
of making their young understand them and what 
feelings they have and express for them, you will 
see that it is not impossible for oysters to com- 
municate with each other. 

u The mother encouraged the young oyster to 
believe that she would be blessed with a pearl 
after a while. She told her to grow to seek the 
right kind of food ; above all to cultivate a happy, 
thankful spirit ; then the great Creator would 
send her a pearl in reward for loving obedience 
and thankfulness. But this young oyster did not 
want to hear any. lectures, and buried her ears in 
the sand, and was as unhappy as ever. 

“ When she found her little brothers and sisters 
no older than herself had little pearls growing, 
she searched her own shell, and asked them also 
to look, but there was none to be found for her. 


58 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


Then she was greatly displeased. She snapped her 
mouth together in an ugly way, and went to the 
mother oyster again. But she said, ‘ My child, 
I am not surprised. It is just what you were 
told. You have not the true beauty of spirit 
within yourself. Pearls are the precious jewels of 
a lifetime, and do not grow except from the right 
spirit. The good Father rewards the loving and 
obedient with them. Then, also, you can under- 
stand what prevents their growth. When you 
allow yourself to feel so discontented, so ugly, so 
unthankful and so unhappy it affects your whole 
nature. It makes all your being acid, and acids 
eat up and destroy pearls. They cannot form in 
your shell while you have such sour feelings. 
Let me advise you to give up this envious and 
discontented spirit, and let the Good Father do his 
own work in your life in his own way and time.’ 

“ The young oyster thought over her mother’s 
wise words and changed her ways. She became 
quiet for a time. Then she grew happier in seeing 
how beauty was growing among her brothers and 
sisters. 

“ One day a great calamity fell on this quiet 
neighborhood. A dark cloud seemed to shut out 
the light, and instantly a large stone fell by the 
side of the nook where they dwelt ; on the stone 


THE DISCONTENTED PEARL OYSTER. 59 


a man was standing holding on to a rope. At 
once he dropped on the sands and began picking 
up every shell within reach, and threw them into 
a basket. In a moment the pearl diver was 
through his work, and was rapidly drawn up, for 
they cannot remain longer than sixty or eighty 
seconds under the water. Hardly had the oysters 
perceived their danger when he was gone. And 
oh, what a foul place he left behind him. The 
once clear, pellucid water was filled with mud and 
sand. The most of the family had instantly shut 
their shells up tight and remained as quiet as 
possible to escape notice. 

“ But the little one, who had been so unhappy, 
was so alarmed for the safety of her mother, and 
her brothers and sisters, that she forgot all about 
herself, and when the excitement was over she 
was full of sand and dirt. She opened her shell 
and washed out the most of this disagreeable 
stuff. 

“ Then she knew the great misfortune that had 
befallen them. Three of her brothers and one 
little sister had been torn away from them, and 
many of their neighbors who lived near by but 
were less protected. 

“ In her sorrow over this great loss she did not 
at once realize how uncomfortable her little home 


60 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


was growing ; but afterwards she felt two sharp 
grains of sand scratching her sides, and every ef- 
fort to dislodge and expel them failed. She tried 
patiently to bear this new trouble which seemed 
so small compared to the great affliction in the 
family life, and in her sorrow she said nothing 
about it. Some time afterwards a bright-eyed 
little one said to her, 

“ ( Why, sister, you have a beautiful pearl, a 
lovely pink one, growing in your shell . 1 9 

“ 6 Have I? I did not know it. A pink pearl, 
did you say ? I am very glad, not so much because 
I care for one now, but I would like to be like 
mother/ 

“ Then another young oyster said, ‘ There must 
be two ; for there is one on this side.’ Then 
when they told her just where they were, the 
little one knew that they had grown where the 
sharp sand had daily torn and hurt her. Out of 
the patient endurance of this sharp trouble had 
grown the great beauty of her life. 

“ When the mother saw the pearls she said : 
6 This is the fulfillment of my words. By love, 
and patience and thankfulness you reach your end 
in living, and come to perfection. Remember, 
“ The shell was not filled with pearls until it was 
contented ” 


THE DISCONTENTED PEARL OYSTER . 61 


Alice was delighted with her father’s story. 
The thoughts in this new dress seemed new and 
striking. She learned from it the truth that 
trouble patiently borne and duties faithfully done 
will make the character beautiful, and that this 
perfection, the true end of living, comes not to 
the eager seeker after beauty, but to the humble 
spirit that forgets self in living for others. 


CHAPTER VII. 


ETHEL AND MARGARET. 


A mind rejoicing in the light, 

Which melted through its graceful bower, 
Leaf after leaf, dew-moist and bright, 

And stainless in its holy white, 

Unfolding like a morning flower : 

A heart, which like a fine-toned lute, 

With every breath of feeling woke, 

And, even when the tongue was mute, 

From eye and lip in music spoke. 

Memories: Whittier. 


The next day was Saturday. In the morning 
Mrs. Russell told Alice where she was going that 
afternoon, and asked her to go with her to see 
Margaret Marshall. This, at first, Alice was not 
at all willing to do, as Ethel had said she would 
spend the morning with her, and Alice had 
promised to go to Ethel’s home in the afternoon. 

“ But you remember, my daughter, all such 
arrangements are subject to your mother’s ap- 
proval, and to-day I wish you to go with me. 

You see Ethel every day at school, and she will 
62 


ETHEL AND MARGARET. 


63 


be here this morning. That ought to satisfy 
even such ardent friends.” 

“ But, mamma, she cannot come early for I 
have all my work to do and my Saturday clearing 
up, and there is my practicing besides.” 

Mrs. Russell was a wise mother. She taught 
Alice to do some housework every day, and an 
extra task on Saturday. She gave her one kind 
of work one week, and another the next, 
so that she might learn how to do every kind 
neatly and rapidly. 

“ Alice, your weekly clearing up does not take 
long now, for you have grown into the habit of 
keeping your bureau and closet and all your 
things in order. Your practicing you can do 
early in the afternoon. You will be through your 
work by nine o’clock. I know you will be glad 
if you go with me. You will be doing good, and 
giving pleasure to a sweet child who has not as 
many enjoyments as you have.” 

When Ethel came and found that Alice could 
not go to her house in the afternoon she was 
quite offended. She was a selfish and jealous 
child. She made many slurring remarks about 
Margaret Marshall although she had never seen 
her, and tried to prejudice Alice against her. 
She took care not to let Mrs. Russell hear her 


64 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


when she was talking in this way, for she admired 
her friend’s mother and wished to retain her good 
opinion. Of course she knew it was wrong to 
talk in a way Mrs. Russell would not approve. 

Girls do not always stop to think that the real 
reason why they do not wish to have their 
parents and teachers know some of their ways 
and words, is, that they are rude and unladylike 
or worse. They make secrets, as if it were a 
matter of friendship, of many things it would be 
better to talk over freely with their mothers and 
older friends. 

When Ethel asked Mrs. Russell to let Alice go 
with her in the afternoon, she refused, explaining 
fully why she wished her to go to the Marshalls’ 
and telling them much about Margaret. This 
little talk did them both good, and Alice went 
willingly with her mother. 

Margaret was about Alice’s age. She was a 
delicate child, and quite unable to run and join in 
active games. On one foot she wore a shoe with 
a very thick sole, and she limped a little in walk- 
ing. 

She was sitting by an open window, making 
egg-case fillers. She stopped working when the 
1 visitors entered ; but, when Alice, who always 
wanted to learn how to do everything, asked her 


ETHEL AND MARGARET. 


65 


how she made them, she began again. She took a 
strip of the paste-board and showed Alice how it 
was cut half way through its width at regular in- 
tervals. Then she fitted other strips just like it 
in these slits, and there was a nest of little com- 
partments, each one big enough to hold an egg 
snugly. This would be put in the bottom of the 
case and filled with eggs, then a sheet of paste- 
board put over it, then another set of the fillers, 
and so on until the case was full. There needed 
to be no counting of the eggs, the fillers did that, 
for each case held so many dozens. Margaret put 
the fillers together very rapidly. She said she 
could work two hours every day and all Saturday 
afternoon. Her mother would not let her work all 
day. The factory sent the material, and took the 
finished work away. She could earn one dollar 
or more every week, more than enough to buy 
her clothes and school-books, so that she could 
keep on going to school. 

Margaret had a very sweet face, with a clear 
blue eye, dark hair, and a large forehead that in- 
dicated a good brain behind it. Alice asked her 
about her school. She was in the same grade 
but in a different building. The next year they 
would be classmates in the B grade of the gram- 
mar department at the high-school budding. 

5 


66 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


They became very much interested in talking 
about their studies and some of the girls in Mar- 
garet’s class. Then Alice looked at her books. 
She had a good many which her father had given 
her. Some of them Alice had read, but Mrs. 
Barr’s Scotch stories and Mrs. Molesworth’s books 
Alice had not seen. Margaret offered to lend 
them to her. 

Then Alice said, u I will bring you some of my 
books. I have the Elsie books, and the Vassar 
Girls, and Angela — that is so nice ; and The Story 
of Patsy and The Birds’ Christmas Carol ; and 
The Little Ladies — that is as funny as can be, 
but it has a sad end, and One Little Maid, and 
ever so many more. When you come up you 
may pick out any you like.” 

Margaret thanked her, and said she would like 
to get one, though she did not have much time to 
read except Sunday afternoon and evening. As 
they lived some distance from the church she 
could go only in the morning. The girls were so 
earnestly looking at the books, and saying, “ Have 
you read this ? ” and “ That book is lovely,” and 
so on, that they did not notice that Mrs. Russell 
had risen and was ready to go. 

Mrs. Marshall asked Alice to come again to 
see Margaret, and Mrs. Russell was pleased to 


ETHEL AND MARGARET. 


67 


see how pleasantly and sincerely Alice promised 
to come again soon, but like a wise woman she 
allowed Alice to think she had discovered Mar- 
garet herself. 

On the way home she told Alice she had a 
plan that would help these friends, by giving Mrs. 
Marshall some steady employment that would pay 
better than the sewing she was doing. She was 
yet a young woman and very bright and quick. 
A few days after this she was invited by one of 
the business houses, in which Mr. Russell was 
interested, to take the cashier’s desk. She soon 
showed such fitness for this position, that her 
place was secured to her as long as she wished to 
keep it. 

Alice felt a genuine sympathy for Margaret, 
and as her mother was now away all day at the 
store she tried to keep her from feeling lonely. 
She often rode down on her tricycle, which she 
had almost given up using, thinking she had out- 
grown it. She would persuade Margaret to come 
out and ride, while she walked beside her. When 
vacation came soon after this, she would get her 
mother to ride oftener than usual, and they 
would call for Margaret, showing her all the 
pretty views along the river road where the great 
elms hung over the water and their long branches 


68 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


swept down like weeping willows. Sometimes 
Ethel went with them but not often, for she 
could not appreciate the beauty of Margaret’s 
character while she wore such plain dresses. 
Then, too, she was very much displeased to see 
that Alice cared for Margaret, and spent so much 
time with her. 

But Alice began to love Margaret. She could 
not help admiring the noble spirit with which her 
new friend overcame the trials of her life. She 
did not complain of her lameness, or the lack of 
nice clothes and many things which the other 
girls had. Her desire was to study hard and fit 
herself for teaching as soon as she was graduated. 
Then she would save up her money for a few 
years and go away to college in the East, and 
after more study she could support herself and 
have a useful career in life. 

It may be said that Margaret was not old 
enough to have such high thoughts and purposes, 
that not one girl in a hundred would talk so at 
her age. But she was just that one girl in two 
or even three hundred, who had begun thus 
early in life to plan for the future. In fact both 
Ethel and Margaret, were thinking and living 
ahead of their years. Margaret’s thoughts were 
sweet, womanly thoughts which were the reflection 


ETHEL AND MARGARET 


69 


of her mother’s teachings and the memory of her 
father’s last counsels. Her mental powers had 
been trained in the severe struggle with pov- 
erty. While other children had no cares but 
were tenderly watched over by their parents, 
Margaret’s life was full of sorrow over the death 
of her father, and anxiety as to how she could 
earn money to buy her clothing, and school-books. 
In this way her character was developed earlier 
than that of many girls, and her wits sharpened 
by necessity. 

Ethel also was like a little woman, but it was 
not an earlier growth from within but a feeble 
copy from the outside. Her ambition was to he 
a young lady and to do just as young ladies do 
in society. Among their young friends there 
were a number of girls very much like her in their 
ideas and aims. They thought a great deal of 
dress, and the furnishing of their rooms was 
copied after those of young ladies they knew. 
Instead of joining in the active play of girls of 
their own age they must protect their hands and 
faces from the sun and be careful of their nice 
dresses and dainty shoes. Much of their talk 
was about the parties they gave for each other, 
and the boys who went with them and brought 
them home at hours far too late. 


70 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS . 


Mrs. Russell was too careful a mother to allow 
Alice to have company in the evening in that way, 
When she was permitted to attend one of these 
parties, her father or mother or Edgar brought 
her home at an early hour. To Mrs. Russell, 
Ethel’s aping the ways and manners of a young 
lady was sometimes amusing, and yet it made her 
sad. She thought how much of the innocent enjoy- 
ment of childhood she was missing, and she often 
made up little parties and excursions for Alice’s 
friends, telling them to wear plain, strong dresses, 
and took them out to the woods or on the river, 
and pointed out to them the beautiful and won- 
derful things to he seen on their trip. The most 
of these girls were, like Ethel, fair and graceful, 
and their bright faces and sweet voices were very 
charming, and Mrs. Russell felt a strong yearn- 
ing that they might learn to be more simple in 
their tastes and childlike in their habits. 

Alice often went down and sat with Margaret 
all the morning, and the two girls would try their 
skill to see who could make the most egg-fillers. 
Though Alice was the stronger she could not 
often excel the practiced hand of Margaret. Then 
she would put Margaret on her tricycle and take 
her home to dinner and to spend the afternoon 
under the trees, sewing, reading, playing croquet 


ETHEL AND MARGARET 


71 


and other games, until her mother came for her 
in the evening. 

The company of a girl with such a sweet dis- 
position and good principles did much to cultivate 
a contented spirit in Alice. She saw that many of 
the things she cared so much to have were not the 
greatest blessings of life, and that people could 
get along without them altogether, and yet be 
very happy. 


CHAPTER VIII. 


CITY FRIENDS. 

There are some hearts like wells, green mossed and deep 
As ever summer saw, 

And cool their water is — yea, cool and sweet ; 

But you must come to draw. 

They hoard not, yet they rest in calm content, 

And not unsought will give ; 

They can be quiet with their wealth unspent, 

So self-contained they live. 

And there are some like springs that bubbling burst 
To follow dusty ways, 

And run with offered cup to quench his thirst 
Where the tired traveler strays ; 

That never ask the meadows if they want 
What is their joy to give ; 

Unasked, their lives to other lives they grant, 

So self -bestowed they live. 

Caroline Spencer. 

In July some old friends came to visit the Rus- 
sells. Dr. Fulton was a busy man, who would not 
often take time for a summer trip away from 
home. He felt such a true sympathy for the sick 
people who put themselves under his care, that 

he could not bear to leave them. Perhaps be- 
72 


CITY FRIENDS. 


73 


cause his wife cunningly persuaded him that, if 
he took a short vacation now, he could work 
harder afterwards, when there would be more 
sickness; or, perhaps, because his college chum’s 
hearty invitation awakened an unusually strong 
desire to see him again ; he had consented to go, 
and here they were now enjoying the delightful 
change from the hot city. Mr. Russell knew they 
would want to see the woods and fields, and so 
he sent them out to explore all the beautiful 
country roads in the early morning and cool even- 
ings. When he could get away from business he 
went with them. Alice was their pilot when no 
one else could go ; and what good times she had 
with these lively people. On the third day of 
the Fultons’ visit Ethel came up to see Alice, and 
found she was out driving with them. She be- 
came quite jealous, and Margaret might also have 
felt deserted if she had been of a complaining 
disposition. 

Three years before these friends had given their 
only child back again to God, when he called her 
to make her home in heaven. They knew that 
God’s plan for her life was best, and that she was 
waiting for them in a happier land, but their lov- 
ing hearts still felt deeply the separation. Busy 
as they were, life seemed not as full as it had been 


74 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


when their Sarah was the daily sunlight in their 
home. She was a bright child of about the same 
age as Alice. It is not surprising then, that, 
when Alice was near, their eyes often rested on 
her ; that they talked with her ; and that, when 
she was driving them alone on these beautiful 
mornings, she felt as if they were drawing her 
very closely to them, by the tender love they 
showed to her. 

There are some people whose hearts are rich 
in love, whose lips drop gentle words of sympathy, 
and whose hands are ever busy, with delicate 
touch, doing some helping work for others. 
Such were the Fultons. Their love might have 
been spent in their own home circle, or flowed 
in narrow channels, had no affliction disturbed 
their happy lives. But when the Lord took away 
their dearest one, the bruising of their affections 
made its perfume All the air with fragrance. Out 
of their sorrow Dr. and Mrs. Fulton had learned 
to have this divine sympathy with all suffering 
people. Children and young people came to 
them freely, and their confidence was gained by 
the kindness they received. So they went along 
their way in life, gathering around them earnest, 
loving young friends, unconscious of that 
influence from their own lives that wakened 


CITY FRIENDS. 


75 


the best thoughts and purposes in those they 
met. 

Ethel came up again about ten o’clock, and 
waited some time for them to return. As they 
drove into the yard she came out and took Alice 
off for a talk. 

“ I thought you never would return. I have * 
been waiting ages for you. It is three whole 
days since I have seen you.” 

u Oh, we have had a nice ride. Dr. Fulton is 
full of fun and Mrs. F ulton is lovely. She will have 
me call her Aunt Lizzie, and she has invited me 
to visit her Christmas. Won’t that be fine? ” 

It was not pleasant to Ethel to be left out of 
all these good times, and she began to hope that 
Mrs. Fulton would include her in this invitation. 
When she came out of doors, with a loose wrap- 
per on and a book in her hand, looking for a 
cool seat under the trees, Ethel said to Alice, 
u Ask her to come and sit in the hammock.” 

But just then seeing the girls Mrs. Fulton came 
that way. u Is this your friend Ethel, that you 
told me of this morning ? I am glad to know 
her,” she said, as Alice introduced them. “ Is 
there room for me to sit with you ? ” 

“ You take the hammock, Mrs. Fulton. Alice 
and I can sit on the grass.” 


76 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


“No, I will not drive you out. If I sit in the 
hammock I would like one of you on each side 
of me.” 

So saying Mrs. Fulton drew them down and 
put an arm around each one. She soon under- 
stood Ethel, and saw that there was good stuff 
in the child’s nature, underneath the artificial, 
grown-up manners she had adopted. She began 
to talk about the ride, and then went on easily to 
tell about places she had seen in France and 
Italy. 

More than an hour went by them unawares, and 
they were caught by Mr. Russell coming home 
to dinner. Mrs. Fulton vanished. Ethel was 
urged to stay to dinner and was delighted to do 
so. In the afternoon the girls asked Mrs. Fulton 
to sin£. Sl ie had a ^ood voice. She tausrht 
Alice and Ethel some new duets that were simple 
and yet lovely. After this the house was full of 
music nearly every day. 

Dr. Fulton enjoyed the music as much as any 
one, but after listening for some time he went to 
the window and looked out. 

“ Are your neighbors all in good health, 
Alice ? ” 

“ Now, Doctor, we thought you were taking a 
rest. Do you not feel happy unless you are mix- 


CITY FRIENDS . 


77 


ing powders? Unfortunately, our neighbors are 
all perfectly well.” 

a Oh, I do not wish to visit the sick. I was 
afraid our music might disturb some one who is 
not well. I am glad to hear it will not.” 

Alice had not thought of such annoyances, but 
Ethel knew that often her father did not want 
her to play on the piano on account of his 
headaches. She asked : 

“ Are there many sick people who are dis- 
turbed by music ? ” 

“ Oh, yes, I have a great many such patients 
in the city. They would like to burn up all the 
pianos, organs, violins, etc. I must tell you 
about one man. It is amusing, but it was 
no fun to him. He had neuralgia and was a 
great sufferer. A clerk boarded near by, who 
had a great ambition to be a musician. He tried 
to learn the violin. At last this man sent for 
him and told him what an annoyance it was and 
how he could not sleep and offered to purchase 
his violin at a good price if he would not buy an- 
other. The clerk accepted the offer readily, 
which surprised my friend. He soon found out 
the reason to his sorrow and disgust. The 
young man had despaired of learning to play on 
the violin, and took the money and bought a 


78 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


cornet, which was a greater nuisance than the 
violin.” 

“ What did the poor sick man do ? ” 

66 He closed up his house and went to Cali- 
fornia, and got well there.” 

“ Then he ought to thank that young man 
after all.” 

“ He doesn’t see it in that light. There are a 
good many of us who are like him. We may 
not be doing right, or we may not be doing our 
best, or we may not be growing strong as we 
should, and the Lord lets some great change 
come into our lives that in the end is a blessing 
to us and makes us more useful, but we do not 
cease to feel injured by the change, if we are 
blind to the blessing it has brought.” 

Alice looked at him with a new perception of 
the great change in his life, for he spoke in 
such feeling tones that she knew he was think- 
ing of the death of his dear daughter, which had 
led him nearer to God. But Ethel did not know 
what was in their minds and changed their 
thoughts by saying : 

u I think somebody ought to invent a soft stop 
to put in our ears. We can shut our eyes if we 
do not wish to look at anything that is not 
pleasing, but we cannot shut our ears.” 


CITY FRIENDS. 


79 


Mrs. Fulton said : 

“ Try to get up such an invention yourself, 
Ethel. It will be a blessing to humanity if you 
succeed/’ 

“ Girls, did you ever think what a beautiful 
curtain the eyelid is ? ” asked the doctor. “ When 
we want to sleep we drop the curtain and shut 
out the light. We hear some sound and wish 
to see and up it goes.” 

“ It is better than a patent balance-spring- 
curtain,” said Alice. 

u Yes, dear, as all of God’s works are better 
than man’s. It has taken six thousand years for 
man to invent a balance spring, but God made a 
better one for the curtain of the eye of the first 
man. And he * planted the ear ’ as the psalmist 
says. It is not put on outside, but comes from 
within where it is in vital connection with the 
brain. As Ethel says we cannot shut it. It 

has no door to close. So there is a twofold 

duty on us. We should avoid distressing the 
ears of others by needless noise, and be gentle 
in our ways of shutting doors and doing things 
that make a noise, and we should be careful 

of our words. On the other hand we should 

take heed how we hear. Keep the good things 
and let the bad things go out the other ear.” 


80 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


“I would rather be deaf than blind/’ said 
Ethel. 

“ I don’t want to be either/’ said Alice. 

“It is well for us we cannot choose/’ said 
Dr. Fulton. “Take care of your eyes and ears, 
and let the Lord choose your afflictions if you are 
to have any. We learn very much by our ears. 
There is one passage in the Bible which teaches 
us that we should consecrate our ears to God. 
You know that in the word of God we are 
taught that sin is a filthy, corrupting, contagious 
thing, like the loathsome disease, leprosy. When 
the leper was cured an atonement was made for 
him by a sacrifice before he could again be con- 
sidered clean. The blood of the slain beast was 
put on the tip of his right ear, on his right 
thumb, and on the great toe of his right foot. 
Afterwards the consecrating oil also was put on 
the tip of the right ear, on the thumb, and on the 
toe. This was an object lesson to teach that a 
man was defiled by sin, and much of the defile- 
ment entered the mind and heart through the 
ears, and hence the ears as well as the active 
bodily powers are to be consecrated to the daily 
service of God.” 

Mrs. Russell was interested in these thoughts 
and asked Dr. Fulton some questions about the 


CITY FRIENDS. 


81 


book of Leviticus. Mrs. Fulton seeing that the 
girls were losing their interest took them to the 
orchard for apples. She continued the talk with 
them in her own charming way, deepening the 
impressions made by the doctor’s words, and 
giving them some new ideas about the use of their 
ears. Alice said to Ethel : 

“ People are always talking to us about our 
tongues, that we must think before we speak. 
Now we have learned to hear only what is worth 
remembering.” 

Ethel answered : “ I should think it would take 
all the fun out of talking.” 

“ But how beautifully Mrs. Fulton talks, and 
so easily too. I suppose we can learn to converse 
in that way after a while, if we try.” 

“ And I mean to learn even if it is hard,” said 
Ethel, and Alice saw a look on her friend’s face, 

that she had never seen there before. 

6 


CHAPTER IX. 


A BLACKBERRY TEA. 

It’s O my heart, my heart, 

To be out in the sun and sing ! 

To sing and shout in the fields about, 

In the balm and blossoming ! 

For oh, but the world is fair, is fair — 

And oh, but the world is sweet ! 

I will out in the gold of the blossoming mould, 

And sit at the Master’s feet. 

And the love my heart would speak 
I will fold in the lily’s rim, 

That the lips of the blossoms, more pure and meek, 

May offer it up to him. 

Ina D. Coolbrith. 

The next day Mr. Russell came home early and 
invited them all to drive out with him to his farm. 
His wife said, 

u Let us get some blackberries in the woods.” 

Alice clapped her hands. “ Oh ! goody ! 
goody ! and can’t we take our supper with 
us?” 

66 Yes,” said her mother, “ if all hands would 
enjoy it.” 


A BLACKBERRY TEA. 


83 


“ I would/’ said Mrs. Fulton. a We might call 
it a blackberry tea.” 

The farm was several miles from town on the 
river road. As one carriage would not bold them 
all, Mr. Russell got a dog-cart with a gentle pony 
that be let Alice drive. With her mother’s con- 
sent she took Ethel and Margaret also. 

Ethel, thinking these city people would wear 
fine clothes, and wishing to appear well herself, 
came wearing a new chally dress. She wanted 
Alice also to wear one of her thin dresses, saying 
it was too hot to wear a gingham. Mrs. Russell, 
however would not listen to any of their pleading, 
and told Alice to be sensible and wear her ging- 
ham. 

When they were ready to start Mrs. Russell 
was obliged to go back into the house to speak to 
Mary about her work. Alice called out, 

“ Papa, I will go first and show you the way.” 

u As if I did not know ! I could go there 
blindfolded.” 

“ You will need some one to keep you in order,” 
said Dr. Fulton. “ That small cart looks pretty 
full now, and if you get too lively some one may 
be spilt out. Then you would need me, per- 
haps, to set a bone or to take some stitches in 
>> 

you. 


84 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


“ Can you sew ? Do you like it ? I hate sew- 
ing/’ said Ethel. 

“ He doesn’t mean sewing clothes. He would 
sew up your skin if it was cut.” 

“ Why, Alice ! that wouldn’t be nice.” 

“ It makes cuts heal quickly and saves a great 
deal of pain ; hut of course it is not pleasant, 
work,” said the doctor. 

“ Margaret will keep us in order and keep our 
hones and skin whole, and you won’t have any 
chance to stick needles in us.” 

“If Alice drives and Margaret keeps order 
what will you do ? ” 

“ I will be the city visitor and admire the 
beautiful scenery, and talk about the pure air.” 

Dr. Fulton laughed at this little hit and then 
said, 

“ Don’t grow up too soon, child ; and be glad you 
can have pure air. How many hundreds of pale- 
faced, puny children I know, whom I would like 
to turn out in these green fields for a month.” 

While they were talking Mrs. Russell came 
out again, and took her place in the carriage. 
The pony was eating at a bush, and before Alice 
could get him in order Mr. Russell started and 
the children drove out last. 

When they were about half way Dr. Fulton 


A BLACKBERRY TEA. 


85 


got out of the carriage to look at the turtles that 
were sunning themselves on a log and on some 
large stones in the river ; but as he stepped down 
the bank they all slipped into the water and 
swam away. The girls also stopped and got out 
and Dr. Fulton helped Margaret down. Her 
lameness at once awakened his sympathy and his 
interest as a doctor. Then he noticed her sweet 
face and the force of character and the thought- 
fulness it indicated. He told the girls about the 
habits of turtles and the great age some of them 
live. He had read of one caught in Florida 
in 1879 with a Spanish inscription cut on its 
shell, and dated 1700. It must have been two 
hundred years old. Alice said : 

“ Why, Dr. Fulton, that is very much like a 
story I saw in the paper this summer. A man 
who lives here caught a turtle twenty-five years 
ago. He cut on its shell his initials and the year. 
This summer his sister, who lives on the old home 
place, caught a land turtle and it proved to be the 
same one. She remembered about her brother cut- 
ting the letters on the shell and they were still very 
plain. She put it in a box and sent it to 
him.” 

“ I have read a number of such stories, Alice. 
There is no doubt that they live to be very old.” 


86 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


“ Let us get one and keep it to see how long it 
will live.” 

“ Thank you, Ethel. I don’t care to live two 
hundred years to find that out. Would you, 
Margaret ? ” 

“ No ; I think not. It would not be worth it. 
I have read in one of papa’s books, that at a vil- 
lage in India the people go out at a certain hour 
to feed the turtles in the Jumna Kiver. The 
large turtles come swimming from every direction. 
There are many large apes in the trees on the 
banks. When the turtles are fed the apes come 
too, and some of them jump on the backs of the 
turtles and try to snatch the food out of their 
mouths. They often get their fingers bitten as 
a punishment for their greed and thieving.” 

Dr. Fulton asked : 

“ Where did you read that ? ” 

“In a book of travels by Miss North, an Eng- 
lish lady.” 

“ Yes ; I know who she was. She was a great 
traveler. Do you remember any more stories 
like that ? ” 

“I remember about some large birds called 
toucans.’ ” 

“ Tell us about them.” 

“ She saw them in Borneo or Java, I forget 


A BLACKBERRY TEA. 


87 


just where. They are large birds, something like 
parrots, with enormous bills of brilliant orange 
or red. They dig great holes for their nests in 
rotten trees, as our woodpeckers do. When the 
hen has laid her eggs and begins to sit, the 
father bird fastens her in by plastering up the 
entrance leaving only a small opening for her to 
put out the end of her bill. He feeds her and 
keeps her a prisoner until the young birds are 
ready to fly ; then they break down the wall and 
all get out.” 

u That is almost too funny to be true,” said 
Alice. 

u Birds and animals have many habits that 
seem strange to us, or funny, as Alice calls it,” 
said Dr. Fulton. 

Alice, laughing, said, “ Miss Henry is always 
correcting us when she hears us say, ‘ How 
funny.’ ” 

“ Let me try to match your bird story with an- 
other odd one. Prof. Rawlinson, in his history 
of Babylonia, describes the birds of Northern 
Syria. There is one species of heron, that in 
some respects resembles the stork. They are 
grayish-white, four feet high and when their 
wings are spread they reach nine feet from tip to 
tip. They gather in large flocks by the rivers 


88 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


and sit down in several rows across the shallow- 
est part of the stream. They sit side by side, as 
close as they can, with their heads down stream 
and spread their tails, like a turkey I suppose. 
This makes a dam in the river and stops its flow 
for a few minutes, and of course the water below 
runs off, leaving the bed of the river almost bare. 
One of the birds stands on the bank and gives 
a signal. Then they all fly up and drop down 
in the mud and scoop up the fish, frogs, etc., 
which have been caught by the lowering of the 
stream.” 

The girls all laughed. Margaret said : “ That 
is not only odd but also funny. Your story is a 
better one than mine, Doctor.” 

“ It is hard to believe it,” said Ethel. 

“I have told it, Ethel, just as Prof. Eawlinson 
has written it. He is good authority, for he is 
the professor of Ancient History in the University 
of Oxford, England.” 

“ Then I suppose it must be true. Alice, do 
you see the wood where we had our school 
picnic? It is over there on the next farm, Dr. 
Fulton,” and she pointed down the river. He 
took his field-glass out of the case which hung 
from his shoulder, and looked through it, 

“ If you mean that large grove back from the 


A BLACKBERRY TEA. 


89 


road and near the river I should think it a beau- 
tiful spot.” 

“Yes, sir. It is a lovely place. We had a 
splendid time. Didn’t we, Alice ? ” 

“ Such fun ! I never had a better time,” 

“ It would have been perfect if the boys had 
not behaved so rudely when we wanted to wade,” 
“ And would you really wade ? I can hardly 
imagine it,” said the doctor in a teasing way. 
“But then the boys are always rude. We know 
that of course, but the girls will play with them 
and keep on complaining. Why do they not let 
the boys alone if their ways are too rough ? ” 

“ Of course we want the boys to play with us 
sometimes, but they ought to play the way we 
want them to. Don’t you think so ? ” Alice 
asked. 

“ They ought to be polite and gentlemanly,” 
Ethel added. 

“ I do like to see the boys and girls play to- 
gether, kindly and gently, for I think it has a 
very refining influence over the boys. The girls 
can teach them nice manners if they will. But 
what did the boys do that day? ” 

“ They were very mean. We wanted them to 
play 6 drop-the-handkerchief,’ but they would play 
base-ball. And we could not play that. So we 


90 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


slipped off by ourselves to the river. We tried 
to be as quiet as mice, but we bad to scream a 
little, for the stones were slippery and we were 
afraid the turtles would bite us. The boys heard us 
and ran down. We screamed and begged them to 
go away, and we had to stand in the water to hide 
our feet. They laughed at us and threw water 
on us. I had to run into the deep water, and the 
skirt of my dress got quite wet. It took a long 
time to dry it. Miss Henry heard us quarreling, 
and she came down and sent the boys away.” 

“ Did you get tired ? Picnics always make me 
tired,” said Margaret. 

“ I think we did. We were all too sleepy the 
next day to study. Alice went to sleep in school.” 

“ I wasn’t the only one. Cousin Mary did, 
and Elsie Dayton too ; and Jane Barker did the 
worst thing. She snored real loudly. .Miss 
Henry went around and shook us to wake us up.” 

“ What made you scream, Alice ? ” 

“ I told you, Ethel — I told all the girls.” 

u You never told me.” 

“ I was dreaming that I was in a swing and 
that I fell out and broke my arm and that it hurt. 
And it did hurt truly for Miss Henry was pinch- 
ing me, and I did not like it either, for that 
made me scream.” 




DR. FULTON TOOK MARGARET’S BASKET AND SAID HE WOULD HELP HER. 


A BLACKBERRY TEA . 


91 


“ Did your teacher scold you ? ” asked the 
doctor. 

“ Oh, no. She was easy with us. She said 
she had been a girl herself.” 

But now Mr. Russell thought it was time to 
go on. So Dr. Fulton helped Margaret up the 
steep bank and into the cart, and then they drove 
on. When they reached the farm their visitors 
wanted to see everything. They looked into the 
dairy and went out to the barns. They gathered 
apples. They admired the sleek cows with their 
sober airs of meditation, and even looked at the 
pigs which saluted them with greedy squeals and 
grunts, asking, in their way, for their supper. 
Then they drove out on a high ridge where large 
oaks and hickories were growing. They looked 
at the wide view over the valley and compared 
the pure air and clear skies with the smoky city 
and its fogs and dust. 

In the corners of this pasture and along the 
rail fence, growing among sumach, hazel and other 
shrubs were bushes loaded with blackberries. 
Mr. Russell proposed that they should divide up 
into parties of two each, and see which would get 
the most berries in half an hour. Dr. Fulton 
took Margaret’s basket and said lie would help 
her, and at once all were busy seeking the best 


92 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


places and picking the great black beauties. Dr. 
Fulton thought he would have some sport out of 
it. He proposed to fill the bottom of Margaret’s 
basket with grass and pick the berries on top of it. 
Then the others would wonder how they found 
so many. Margaret said nothing, but while he 
was putting in the grass he saw that her bright 
face was clouded, and that she disapproved of the 
deceit even for the purpose of a pleasant joke. 
The doctor was ashamed of it himself, and it gave 
him an insight into the purity of the young girl’s 
character which he never forgot. 

If Mr. Russell thought he would come out with 
the fullest basket he was mistaken. While he 
was picking rapidly he was startled by a scream 
from Ethel. If blackberries are sweet they are 
well guarded. Every cane is covered with long 
sharp thorns and on the branches and under the 
leaves are just as many. Touch one and you 
must stop and wait a bit if you wish to get away 
easily. Ethel’s light dress was caught on one 
side, and as she stooped to loosen it another cane 
switched her on the back. When she turned her 
hat was caught by a branch above and flew up in 
the air, while the moving branches scratched her 
hands and arms which she put up to protect her 
face. Mr. Russell made her stand perfectly still 


A BLACKBERRY TEA. 


93 


while he cut the canes and pulled them off. Her 
dress was sadly torn and stretched out of shape. 
Dr. F ulton heard the commotion and came out of 
his corner. 

“ You need a little court-plaster on your right 
arm,” he said with real sympathy, for he knew 
how such scratches hurt, and taking a small case 
from his coat pocket he began to cover them and 
eased the pain. Alice watched him closely till 
he was done. Then she looked at the torn dress. 

“ She needs some of your stitches, too, in her 
dress. Y ou will have to show us how you can sew.” 

But Dr. Fulton had not brought any of his 
fine needles. Ethel felt quite mortified over her 
dress, and Alice was glad she had worn a strong 
gingham. Mrs. F ulton said she would finish what 
the doctor could not do, and finding some pins 
she made Ethel look presentable. 

After a little more time spent in picking, Mr. 
Russell called, “Time is up.” They all came 
straggling back to the carriage. Dr. Fulton was 
walking, bent to one side, carrying Margaret’s 
basket as if it was a very heavy load. 

“ Where did you two find so many berries ? ” 

“Never mind, Alice. We will not tell.” 

“ It does not feel heavy enough for such a lot,” 
said Alice. “ Lift it, Ethel.” 


94 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


Ethel lifted it, then she turned it down on its 
side, and put her hand in and brought out a hand- 
ful of grass. She looked at Margaret and said : 

“ I did not think you would be such a cheat, 
Margaret Marshall. It is half grass, I believe.” 

Then they all looked into the basket and found 
it out, and laughed over it. But Ethel did not 
seem to enter into the joke, and, forgetting that 
she would be reflecting on Mrs. Russell’s guest, 
made another unkind remark : 

“ I would rather get fewer berries than cheat 
about it.” 

Dr. Fulton saw that what he thought would be 
a harmless joke was turning out rather unpleas- 
antly, as such deceits often do, and might injure 
Margaret. So he said : 

“ You must blame me altogether for this poor 
joke, which seems to be a failure. Margaret had 
nothing to do with it, and did not approve of it.” 

Then Ethel blushed and said, “ Oh excuse 
me,” and wished she had kept still. 

“ Lizzie, you have not shown your basket,” said 
Mrs. Russell. 

Mrs. Fulton had gone by herself. What a shout 
there was when they found only six berries in it. 

“ I don’t mind your laughing for I have eaten 
my berries. They are splendid.” 


A BLA CKBERR Y TEA. 


95 


“ Not a basketful? ” 

“ No, not as many as that. I have been look- 
ing at the view, and thinking what a lovely world 
this is we live in, and how many delicious fruits 
God has made for us. It is delightful to eat them 
from the bushes, instead of buying them half ripe 
or stale in the market. 

“Dr. Fulton, may be you will have to give her 
some medicine to-night,” said Alice, remember- 
ing the doses of peppermint she sometimes had to 
take after eating imprudently. 

“ He does not often give me medicine, Alice. 
I tell him he only half believes in his own remedies. 
He would say use a mustard plaster or some other 
old remedy.” 

“ None of my pills are as good medicine as 
this,” said the doctor helping himself to some of 
the berries out of Alice’s basket. 

“ I won’t have any more than Aunt Lizzie pretty 
soon,” said Alice with a pretence of complaint, 
looking at the hole in her basket. Then chang- 
ing her tone : “ Of course, poor city man, you 
can have all you want.” 

“You have not eaten any, I suppose, little 
country girl ; but what makes your teeth and lips 
so black.” 

“ If you are all eating so much fruit we should 


96 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


have some bread too. Let us have our supper 
now under those black-walnut trees/’ said her 
mother. 

This was a part of the grove that was more 
open on the north side of the hill. It was a lovely 
spot. The grass was fine and soft. There were 
little patches of May-apples, that looked like dwarf 
forests. At their feet was a wide valley, fair to 
look upon ; in the middle heavy forests that 
hid the river, and beyond these the faint blue haze 
that crowned the distant hilltops. 

While they were getting supper ready Alice 
asked for a saucer, and she and Ethel went behind 
some bushes. In a few minutes they came back 
with the saucer heaped with berries, and wanted 
some sugar. They said it was medicine for the 
doctor. When they sat down the two girls were 
very eager to help him to berries. 

“I can’t eat so many. Give them to Lizzie.” 

“ No, you must eat them all.” 

66 1 will do my best.” He put in his spoon but 
did not get many. 

He tried again, and the spoon came out full of 
short grass. 

“ What is this I have here ? ” 

“ That is your medicine that is so good,” said 
Ethel. 


A BLACKBERRY TEA, 


97 


They all laughed at him, and his wife said, 

“ That is your own medicine sure enough, 
James,” as he showed the saucer filled up with 
grass and only a layer of berries on top. 

“ I am paid up in my own coin. Margaret did 
you tell them to do it ? ” 

“ Oh, no, Doctor. I would never have thought 
of it.” 

u I believe you. I think it was this young lady/’ 
and he emptied the grass on Ethel’s head. Then 
Ethel and Alice chased him around the trees with 
switches until they were called back to finish their 
supper. 

After their merry talk while eating supper they 
were in no hurry to go home. Mrs. Fulton sang 
for them, and then they all sang together, “ God 
be with you till we meet again.’’ 

When the moon came up over the hill behind 
them they gathered up their baskets and wraps 
and drove home. 

Dr. Fulton was very much interested in Mar- 
garet, and the next day was glad to find her visit- 
ing Alice. He asked about her lameness, and 
gave her some advice about her health, and about 
the exercise she could take that would make her 
stronger, without any injury to the weak joint. 

He told Alice her friend would be one of those 
7 


98 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


useful women, whose influence is repeated in 
the lives of many others who live after them. 

This visit gave both Alice and Ethel something 
to think of besides dress and ornaments. Alice 
especially learned much about the beauty of a 
true and unselfish life. She had not forgotten 
what her father told her about the jewels of God’s 
kingdom, and the ornaments of wisdom and grace 
that make a splendid character. She began to 
think more of Margaret than of Ethel, and un- 
consciously she was growing like her ; for this 
is the law of our growth that we become like that 
which we greatly admire. She was more con- 
tented, and never enjoyed a summer more than 
this one. Her father and mother saw the change 
in her, and other friends said, “ Alice Russell is 
at last growing to be like her mother.” 


CHAPTEK X. 


BLACKBERRIES ARE NOT ALWAYS SWEET. 

Yes, lovely hour ! thou art the time 
When feelings flow, and wishes climb ; 

When timid souls begin to dare, 

And God receives and answers prayer. 

Then, as the earth recedes from sight, 

Heaven seems to ope her fields of light, 

And call the fettered soul above 
From sin and grief, to peace and love. 

Evening : H. F. Lyte. 

The week that Dr. Fulton had snatched for 
this visit from his large practice passed all too 
quickly, and these delightful friends went back 
to the city on Thursday. Alice had enjoyed their 
lively talk, and was fascinated by Mrs. Fulton’s 
sweet voice and gentle manners. She had followed 
her about like a shadow. She was very sorry to 
have them go away. At first the house seemed 
so quiet without them, as if it was emptied of its 
light and pleasures. Yet she felt that it was a 
relief, and relaxed a little from her unusual good 


100 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


behavior of the last few days. Her mother 
had thought it was too good to last long, but she 
hoped that Alice had learned much from these 
friends whose minds were wide-awake, and whose 
lives were filled with generous self-sacrificing 
labors. In fact the influence of their visit re- 
mained and was a stimulus to each one of these 
three girls, helping them to be more studious at 
school and to seek the better and higher things 
which life offers. 

But just now Alice did something which 
caused her father and mother great sorrow for 
a few days. 

Friday morning at the breakfast-table Mr. 
Russell looked at his wife as he asked, 

“ Who wants to drive out to the farm to-day ? 
I must send a note to Mr. Moler about selling my 
wheat.” 

“Not I, for I have fruit to can to-day,” was 
Mrs. Russell’s answer. 

“ I do ! I do ! Let me go, that’s a dear good 
papa,” said Alice, patting his hand. 

“ You are always ready for a ride, pet.” 

“ Yes, I am. I wish I had a pony of my own, 
that I could ride and drive when I pleased.” 

“ I pity him,” said Edgar. “ He would be 
nothing but a bag of bones.” 


BLACKBERRIES ARE NOT ALWAYS SWEET 101 

“ Indeed he wouldn’t. He would be sleek and 
fat. I would give him pieces of bread and lumps 
of sugar every day. He would like that and do 
everything I wanted. May I take Ethel and 
Margaret ? ” 

“ Yes. And you might take Emma and get 
some blackberries for Mrs. Peters.” 

“ That would be nice and we could have a little 
picnic.” 

“ It will be more like a circus I think.” 

“ Now, Edgar, what makes you say that? 
Ethel and Margaret certainly are not like wild 
beasts, or clowns either.” 

“ If you get in the blackberry bushes you will 
all be on a tear.” 

“ Oh, Edgar, what a wretched pun,” said 
his mother, but at the same time smiling over 
it. 

“ I don’t understand it,” said Alice. 

“ It is a poor joke that must be explained, my 
son. Alice, you can take Tom. I will write a 
note to Mr. Moler, which you must be sure to 
give him, for it is important that he should get 
it early this morning.” 

Alice had been feeding her pet kitten. While 
her father was talking it had jumped up into her 
lap and she began playing with it, so that she 


102 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


did not attend closely to what her father was 
saying, and this was the beginning of the trouble 
she got into that day. 

The girls were all glad to go. Ethel had 
learned to her sorrow something about black- 
berry bushes, and did not wear a chally dress 
this time. Emma Peters was now well again. 
For several weeks she suffered a great deal from 
her burns. They healed slowly. Her school- 
mates were very thoughtful and kind, and they 
grew to love Emma when they saw her at home, 
and knew what a good girl she was. Susie Peters 
wanted to go ; but Ethel said she would not go 
if Susie crowded into the carriage, and Alice did 
not want to have the care of any young children. 
So Ethel told Susie they did not want her along 
with them. Susie felt very much hurt and began 
to cry. Ethel called her a cry-baby which made 
her cry more. Margaret felt sorry for her. She 
took an apple out of her pocket, and gave it to 
her, and Susie stopped crying. While Emma 
went to the kitchen to get a large pail for the 
berries, Ethel said : 

“ What a little pig she is ! See how her 
cheeks stick out ! Like this,” and Ethel puffed 
out her thin cheeks with her breath. 

“ For shame, Ethel, she will hear you,” said 


BLACKBERRIES ARE NOT ALWAYS SWEET. 103 


Margaret. She thought Ethel’s conduct was 
more selfish than Susie’s, and also rude. 

When the girls reached the farm Mrs. Moler 
said her husband was up in the wood where they 
were going. So Alice put the note back in her 
pocket, intending to hand it to him when she 
saw him. But he had finished his work there, 
and had gone across a field to speak to a neigh- 
bor ; after that he came back to the house by 
another way, and Alice did not find him. They 
left the horse to be fed, and walked up to the 
wood. The berries were thick and large, and 
they soon forgot everything else in the pleasure 
of gathering them, and eating their share as they 
picked them. A good share it was, but there 
were plenty for all, and in an hour Emma’s pail 
was more than half full. 

Then said Alice : 

“ How hot it is, I am nearly cooked. Just 
look at Emma’s face ! ” 

And Emma said : 

“ I am very hot, aren’t you, Ethel ? ” 

“Yes, I am all in a glow, Emma, and I am 
going to rest,” and she dropped down in the soft 
grass under a wide-spreading walnut tree, and 
began fanning herself with her large hat. 

“ Is it cool over there ? ” asked Margaret. 


104 ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 

“ Yes, there is a nice breeze. Come sit down, all 
of you. Haven’t you enough berries, Emma? ” 

“ I want to get my bucket full. You don’t 
know how much we can eat at our house,” said 
Emma, covering her berries with some large 
hickory leaves before she sat down. 

“ Don’t we ? May be we can guess.” 

“If you had to cut the bread for Ned and 
Johnnie and Susie it would make you tired. 
More than a big loaf every meal, and sometimes 
two loaves.” 

“ I should think it would make your mother 
tired to do so much baking. Mother and I only 
eat one loaf in two days. I will give you a co- 
nundrum,” and Margaret leaned over, and picked 
up a brown caterpillar on a stick. 

“ Don’t drop it on me, Margaret ! ” Ethel 
cried with a little scream, and rolled over away 
from her. Margaret held it up. 

“ Why is this like buckwheat cakes ? ” 

“ That is old and mouldy,” said Ethel. 

“ I never heard it. What is it ? ” 

“You must think and guess it, Emma.” 

“ I am not good at guessing.” 

“Come over here and I will tell you, Emma.” 

“ Now, Ethel, that is not fair ! Let her guess 


it. : 


BLACKBERRIES ARE NOT ALWAYS SWEET. 105 

But Ethel was whispering to Emma. 

“ I know/’ said Emma, “ it is the worm that 
makes the butterfly.” 

The other girls laughed, and Emma, turning 
red, asked Margaret, 

“ Wasn’t that right? I don’t see what, you 
are all laughing at.” 

“ Oh, Emma, I did not say worm. I said 
grub. It’s the grub that makes the butterfly.” 

“ I don’t see the difference,” said practical 
Emma, and the girls laughed again, and Margaret 
explained it. 

Ethel stood up and proposed they should go 
down to the house and get a drink of water. 

Emma wanted to pick more berries, and Mar- 
garet said she would stay with her. When the 
two girls were pumping water Mrs. Moler called 
them into the house and gave them some fresh 
buttermilk, and after a while they went back to 
the wood, Ethel carrying a pail of water and 
Alice a pitcher of buttermilk. 

Margaret and Emma drank some of the cool 
buttermilk, and then Alice helped them fill 
Emma’s pail with berries. Ethel sat under a tree 
and laughed at them for working so hard. In a 
little while they were through, and the pail was 
covered with leaves and set in the shade. 


106 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


After resting a while they played a game of 
hide-and-seek, but it was so hot they soon tired 
of this. Then they thought it must be after noon, 
and decided to eat their dinner, though it was 
really only eleven o’clock. 

When Mary put up the lunch she had told 
Alice she must not look at it until they were 
ready to eat it. So the girls carried the basket 
very carefully, for they did not know what might 
be there, and now they all crowded around 
eagerly to see when Alice opened it. She said, 
“ I just know there is a lemon pie, for there 
was one left from dinner yesterday, and I looked 
in the closet after Mary packed the basket and it 
was gone. I asked Mary if she put it in and she 
said, ‘ Is limon poy, the poy to take on a picnic 
and have the juice of it run all over iverything in 
the basket ? ’ ” 

But there was the lemon pie in a pie pan, 
snugly packed on top, and not spoiled at all. 
There was plenty of bread buttered, some slices 
of cold meat, four generous pieces of cake, and a 
banana for each one. But the pie was not cut 
and there was no knife in the basket. Alice 
thought Mary left it out on purpose and perhaps 
she did. 

Ethel had a little pearl-handled knife in her 


BLACKBERRIES ARE NOT ALWAYS SWEET. 107 


pocket. She divided the pie very nicely into 
four pieces, but the crust was tender and stuck 
to the pan in some places, and the pieces would 
not lift out without breaking. Alice said, “ Let’s 
play we are Indians and use a stone knife,” and 
she began to hunt for a thin stone. Emma pro- 
posed to cut it in small pieces, and take them out 
and put them on leaves for pie-plates. But Mar- 
garet said she would make a wooden pie-knife, 
and with the penknife she made one, and handed it 
to Alice, who took out the pie with it very neatly. 
Although they had eaten a good many berries 
the exercise had made the girls hungry. They 
ate every crumb and wished there was more. 
Then they went down to the house, thinking 
they would go home soon and get some more 
dinner. 

As they passed the barnyard Emma said, 

“ What a big straw pile. It would be fun to 
slide down it. Do you think Mr. Moler would 
let us? ” 

“ You may ask him, but I won’t. Half of it 
is papa’s, and I can slide on his straw if I want 
to.” 

Emma and Margaret did not like to do it with- 
out permission. They found Mr. Moler eating 
dinner. He had no objections, as the straw was 


108 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


soon to be hauled away to the straw-board factory 
and the children could not injure the stack. 

Up they climbed and down they slid on the 
long sloping sides. Alice and Emma helped 
Margaret up. Ethel soon found the straw was 
not very clean and that her dress was soiled. 
She lost her interest in the summer coasting and 
wanted the girls to stop also, and get out the 
horse and go home. They did not care for a 
little dirt, and were having a good time. Soon 
Margaret also stopped, for she found the climb- 
ing up was too hard for her and hurt her lame 
limb. Ethel kept up her teasing, and Alice and 
Emma rather reluctantly gave up their fun. 

Mrs. Moler seeing them in the yard came out 
and invited them to come in and rest, and have 
some dinner, but the girls declined. They got 
out their horse and started for home. 

They were driving along slowly about two 
miles from the farm when Alice took out her 
handkerchief to wipe off the dust, and her father’s 
note came out with it. 

“ Oh, girls ! What have I done ? Here is 
papa’s note to Mr. Moler. I forgot to give it to 
him. We must go back.” 

“ Oh, dear,” groaned Ethel. “ All that dusty 
road ! We are half way home.” 


BLACKBERRIES ARE NOT ALWAYS SWEET. 109 

“ How could you forget it? But we all ought 
to have helped you to remember it.” 

“ Yes, Margaret, we were all so foolish as to 
forget what we came for : but we must go right 
back,” said Emma. 

u Can’t we come to-morrow just as well?” asked 
Ethel. 

“ No, that would never do,” said Alice, and she 
began to turn the horse around. There was no 
help for it so they drove back ; but Tom had his own 
opinion of it, and poked along, and the girls were 
singing and playing and joking each other with 
the careless freedom of childhood. They had not 
yet learned the value of time, and how important 
it is to correct a mistake promptly. They soon 
discovered that a few minutes often make the 
difference between success and failure. As they 
reached the top of a small hill not very far from 
the farm-house Emma said, “ Look ! there is 
some one driving out the gate now.” 

“ It is Mr. Moler’s white horse and that is his 
brown straw hat.” 

Ethel asked, “ Whose brown straw hat ? The 
horse’s ? ” 

“ No, goosey. That is Mr. Moler himself, and 
he is going the other way. Get up, Tom ! We 
must catch him.” 


110 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


As she spoke Alice struck Tom with the whip. 
He gave a jump and dashed forward ; but the 
white horse was a good traveler and kept ahead. 

“ Mr. Moler ! ” screamed Alice. 

“ Mr. Moler ! ” “ Mr. Moler ! ” cried all the 
girls in shrill voices. But the little wind there 
was blew toward the hills, and Mr. Moler’s wagon 
rattled so that he was deaf to all their voices. 
The carriage flew along, and the little wagon 
also flew along. Soon it turned around a hill 
and disappeared, and when the girls passed the 
turn they could see nothing of it anywhere. 

Alice felt herself in deep trouble. She knew 
her father would be displeased, for she had now 
an indistinct remembrance of his saying that 
she must deliver the note at once. 

They now drove back to the farm and found 
Mrs. Moler. She put up her hands when Alice 
gave her the note. 

“Well, now that is too bad,” she said, “ for 
John will not get back till to-morrow, but I will 
hand it to him as soon as he gets home. I ought 
to have spoken to him about that note. But he 
was in such a hurry to get off and to have me 
get his things ready for him, just like a man 
always is, that I was too flustered to think of it.” 

Alice was cheered up for a little while. But as 


BLACKBERRIES ARE NOT ALWAYS SWEET. Ill 

they drove home through the afternoon heat she 
felt miserable. The heat and worry, and the 
berries and buttermilk made her headache. She 
was cross to the girls, but they were so sorry for 
her that they did not answer her unkind speeches. 
All these things helped to confuse her judgment 
and made it easier for her to yield to the temp- 
tation to cover up her fault. 

The girls drove first to Margaret’s house and 
then to Emma’s. After leaving Margaret Ethel 
remarked, 

“ Alice, don’t feel so bad about that old note. 
You need not tell your father you forgot it. Mr. 
Moler will come in to-morrow afternoon and your 
father will never know anything about it.” 

“ He will be sure to ask me. I ought to tell 
him anyhow, if he doesn’t ask me.” 

cc I wouldn’t. You can tell him if Mr. Moler 
doesn’t come.” 

Alice knew better, but Ethel’s bad advice made 
some impression on her tnind. 

It was not often that Alice forgot her duties. 
Her father was a prompt, energetic business man, 
who expected people to keep their promises and 
do their duty. Alice was like her father. She 
was a practical girl, observant and thought- 
ful. She liked to have other people think well 


112 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


of her, and this sometimes led to little conceal- 
ments and deceptions, when she failed in duty. 
These small deceits made her careless about being 
truthful and the next step was not so hard to 
take. This evening, without knowing it, her 
father gave her an opportunity to hide her forget- 
fulness. He asked, 

“ Did you see Mr. Moler ? ” 

“ He was not at home. He was up in the 
wood when we got there. I left the note at the 
house with Mrs. Moler.” 

“ Did you see him at all ? ” 

“ Oh, yes at dinner time.” 

“ Did he send any message ? ” 

“ No, papa.” 

“ Then I suppose he will come in to-morrow, 
or he would have sent word.” 

Alice made no answer but her heart sank. 
She tried to relieve her mind by thinking that 
she had not told a story, but she knew, in spite of 
all efforts to justify her own conduct, that she 
had deceived her father in a very important 
matter. 

He noticed how quiet she was all the evening, 
but when she said her head ached from the hot 
ride he did not think it singular. 

She felt very miserable. She wanted to go to 


BLACKBERRIES ARE NOT ALWAYS SWEET. 113 

her father and tell him all about it. This would 
have been the best thing for her but she was 
afraid. Her wrong-doing made her a coward. 
The perfect confidence between them was broken. 
When he tried to talk with her she went away by 
herself. She began to play on the piano but 
soon tired of it. She took a book but could not 
read. Nothing satisfied her, and saying she was 
tired she went to bed early, but she could not 
sleep. Her bed felt hard and her pillow lumpy. 
She wished she had gone down to Ethel’s to spend 
the evening. Then she said she hated Ethel for 
making her tell a story, forgetting that she was 
far more to blame than Ethel. At last she fell 
asleep, and in the morning these impressions and 
troubles had faded from her mind. 

Saturday evening when Mr. Russell came home 
he said he did not understand why Mr. Moler 
had not come in that day. He questioned Alice 
again about the note. She repeated what she had 
told him before. 

“It is strange he did not tell you when he 
would come to the bank. Are you sure he got 
the note before you came away ? ” 

Alice hesitated, then answered, 

“ I should think Mrs. Moler would give it to 

him at once.” 

8 


114 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


Her father noticed her hesitation. 

“ There is something I do not understand 
about this. It is not like John Moler to neglect 
business. Wheat is going down and I want to 
sell mine before it gets any lower.” 

Alice did not make any answer and she felt 
very uncomfortable. 

Monday noon when Mr. Russell came home he 
had very little to say. Alice noticed that he 
looked at her several times with a very earnest, 
grieved expression. After dinner she was going 
down to Ethel’s when her father called her 
back. Alice wished she could run away and 
hide when she saw how sad her father’s face 
was. 

“ I know now that you forgot to deliver my 
note Friday until after Mr. Moler had gone away. 
He did not return home and get it until Saturday 
evening. I would have sold my wheat Saturday 
noon, if I had known he could deliver it this week. 
Wheat is three cents lower to-day and I have lost 
ten dollars or more by your carelessness. But 
I do not feel so bad over the loss, as that you 
have deceived me. That hurts me, my daughter, 
very much. Oh, so very much.” 

“ But papa, I did not tell you a story. You 
asked me if I saw him and I said he was not at 


BLACKBERRIES ARE NOT ALWAYS SWEET. 115 

home and that I left the note with Mrs. Moler, 
and I did.” 

“ Alice do yon think yon told me the truth ? ” 

Alice turned very red and began to cry but 
made no answer. 

“ Do you not see how you deceived me?” 

“ Yes, papa, I see it. I have been very un- 
happy, but I tried to excuse myself by thinking 
I had not told a story.” 

Then Alice told her father all about it, and 
felt as if she had laid down a heavy burden she 
had been carrying. 

“ You have been unfaithful, Alice. You were 
given an important duty, and you neglected it. 
Then you deceived me when I inquired about 
it. Then you led me to think it was Mrs. 
Moler’s carelessness, and not yours, that made 
the trouble, throwing the blame upon an innocent 
person.” 

66 1 am so sorry, papa, I did not tell you at 
once. And I am sorry I said that about Mrs. 
Moler. She is a good, kind woman and I don’t 
see how I came to lay it on her.” 

66 One lie seldom walks alone. It halts and 
stumbles and requires the support of several more 
lies to make it go. And after all it breaks down. 
It would have been better had you told me 


116 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


Friday; I would have sent word again Satur- 
day. But if your untruthfulness hurts me, you 
have another Father, Alice, who is more deeply 
grieved. It is a sin against him. Do you not 
know that ? ” 

“ Yes, papa.” 

“ Will you ask him to forgive you ?” 

“ Yes, I will.” 

“ God is perfectly true and pure, and he re- 
quires truth in the inward parts, that is in our 
heart and intentions. God looketh at the heart. 
My daughter, I want you to love the truth as 
God loves it. I must tell you that I had intended 
to take you to Niagara, when that excursion goes 
in August ; but now, as your carelessness has 
caused me some loss, I think it is best to put off 
that trip to some other time. If you feel that 
you have deprived yourself of this pleasure by 
your fault, you will learn to be more careful and 
truthful.” 

This was a great disappointment to Alice. A 
fresh flood of tears burst from her eyes. At first 
she felt angry with her father, but afterwards 
better thoughts prevailed. 

In the evening her father had more time to 
talk with her. He let her see that he had ex- 
pected to enjoy this trip with her but that now 


BLACKBERRIES ARE NOT ALWAYS SWEET. 117 

he would lose it also. She saw how wrong-doing 
does not affect the guilty one alone, but hurts 
others. It made her truly sorry for her fault. 

Confidence between Alice and her father was 
restored. She sat by his side with his strong 
arm about her, and felt how much he loved her, 
how he wanted her to be a good girl and grow 
up to be a lovely woman like her mother. She 
saw the evil of her conduct more clearly than 
ever before, and it seemed to her ugly and 
hateful, and a strong desire to be good arose in 
her heart. 

As she knelt by her bed for her evening 
prayer she confessed her fault in her own childish 
language and asked God to forgive her. Her 
prayer was answered. All her unhappy thoughts 
left her, and a sweet peace that came from God 
filled her heart. She lay down, and in a few 
moments dropped into a sound and dreamless 
sleep. 


CHAPTER XI. 


mrs. russell’s sabbath-school class. 

And I thought to myself how nice it is 
For me to live in a world like this, 

Where things can happen, and clocks can strike, 
And none of the people are made alike. 

Matthew Browne. 

There were several girls that were great 
friends of Alice and Ethel, who were almost daily 
companions all through the year. They lived 
near each other, Alice being the farthest away, 
as her home was almost at the end of the street 
on which most of them lived. Three of the girls 
were cousins, and others were distantly related. 
They belonged to the same class in Sabbath-school. 

They were of about the same age, the young- 
est being nearly twelve, the rest between twelve 
and thirteen. All but two were in the same 
class in the public school. These two were a 
year older than the other girls, and were al- 
ready in the B grade. They were Emily Car- 
rol and Lucy Sweet. Emily was a darkeyed 


MRS. RUSSELL'S SABBATH-SCHOOL CLASS. 119 

girl, as brown as a brownie, with a bright 
laughing face, and a short figure as deep as it 
was wide that looked not unlike a barrel, and 
was about as full of spirits. She was a great 
favorite with all, for she carried life and fun 
wherever she went. Lucy was tall, slender and 
fair, and as they were inseparable, they caused a 
good many teasing remarks. Sam Dayton called 
them “ Sweet Carols” and Jack Donahue, “the 
Eiffel Tower.” “ Then we will look down on you, 
little boys,” said Emily, as she stretched her- 
self up and stood on her toes until her head came 
almost up to Lucy’s shoulder. She looked so 
funny that Sam and Jack did not feel at all 
snubbed by being called small boys. The two 
girls were so often called the twins that they 
would answer to the name. Mary Robinson was 
another of these friends. She was the oldest 
child in her home, and took care of her little 
brothers and sisters when her mother was sick, 
as she often was. 

Another girl in the class was Rose Gaylord, 
very much like Mary in appearance but not in 
character. She was very pretty when she was a 
little child and had been so often called “ Sweet- 
ness,” and praised for her loveliness, that her 
vanity had spoiled her beauty and manners. 


120 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS . 


Elsie Dayton, another of these friends, had a 
lovely voice and, from a child, a fine musical taste. 
She learned to sing and play the accompani- 
ments of a number of pretty songs when she 
was only five or six years old. She had natu- 
rally a sweet disposition, and when asked to 
sing was always willing to do so. Another 
child of more self-consciousness might have 
been completely spoiled by so much attention, but 
Elsie did not seem to care for all the compliments 
and applause she received. But she was not 
interested in many things beside her music, and 
her disposition was indolent. She did not assist 
her mother at home as she should have done. It 
is true this was partly Mrs. Dayton’s fault. She 
often talked to Elsie about it, but she did not in- 
sist on the work being done and the talking did 
not produce any good result. Elsie loved her 
mother and would have felt very much hurt if 
any one had said she did not show the right 
spirit of affection for her ; but her love did not 
blossom and bear fruit in helpful deeds. 

Laura Fullerton was a girl of a very different 
spirit. She was tall and well proportioned. Her 
eyes were brown and her complexion clear and 
healthy though rather dark. Her father was a 
noble Christian gentleman but her mother was 


MRS. RUSSELL'S SABBATH-SCHOOL CLASS. 121 


very gay and worldly, and as they had ample 
means, and there were older daughters, no care 
or responsibility had yet been thrown upon Laura 
to call forth the deeper nature within. On the 
contrary, the girls that surrounded her brought 
her harm rather than much benefit and drew her 
into many frivolous ways. But there was a 
depth of thought and feeling and an earnest and 
reverent spirit that would richly reward careful 
culture. There were some who perceived this 
and who wished to see her become an earnest 
Christian, and exert that strong influence over 
the other girls which she was capable of doing. 
One of these was her father who often took an 
hour from his busy life to talk to Laura, and 
sometimes took her with him on long rides to the 
country on business, when she learned as much 
from her father as she would have done in 
school. 

Another interested friend who kept her eyes 
on Laura was her Sabbath-school teacher, Mrs. 
Russell. She loved her, and Laura responded to 
that love with an affectionate trust and obedient 
spirit. Her lesson was always well prepared and 
she seemed to catch the spiritual meaning in each 
passage. Mrs. Russell looked forward to the 
time when Laura would help her in guiding these 


122 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


giddy girls into more sensible and proper ways of 
amusing themselves. 

Bessie Henderson was another of the sweet 
singers. She was a delicate, fairy-like child, and 
could sing like a bird, but her disposition was a 
very singular one. It was not often that she 
would sing for any one at home or take part in 
the Sabbath-school entertainments. Whether it 
was obstinacy or over-sensitiveness, Mrs. Bussell 
could not decide. She thought it possible that 
her rough brothers had teased her at times about 
her singing and made her very unhappy, and that 
she did not enjoy singing because she was afraid 
of criticisms and teasing remarks. If George and 
Harry Henderson had known how she felt they 
would not have teased her so. 

But it often happens that sensitive children get 
the most teasing. They are annoyed by it, and 
that is a part of this cruel sport. The boys like 
to see the flush spread over the delicate face. If 
they can succeed in making some one angry all 
the more fun. They do not think of the ill effect 
on the disposition of the one so annoyed. If the 
teasing produces no effect they soon stop it. If 
any children are troubled in this way let them 
not seem to care for it, and it will soon cease, for 
all the fun will drop out of it. 


MRS. RUSSELL'S SABBATH-SCHOOL CLASS. 123 


When a child loves music, and God has given 
her a flute-like voice to express the thoughts he 
puts into her soul, it is a great pity if the gift 
is in any way repressed. It is a gift from the 
Father of our spirits, and she should have the 
privilege of using it and enjoying it, and minister- 
ing by it to the pleasure of others. 

These girls who have been mentioned, with 
Alice and Ethel, made a class of nine. They all 
loved their teacher, but they did not know what 
a heavy burden they were to that discerning Chris- 
tian woman. She loved them and yearned over 
them as if they had all been her own children. She 
sometimes felt that perhaps another teacher might 
do them more good, and asked the superintendentto 
relieve her and select some one else. But nobody 
would listen to any such suggestion, and the girls 
would not have consented to any change. She 
was not discouraged, for her faith in God made 
her hopeful. Some of her friends advised her to 
form a circle of King’s daughters. But she said, 
u Not yet. The girls are not ready. They have 
never proposed it, and I do not want them to 
pretend to feelings to which they are yet strangers, 
or play at Christian work in which they take no 
real interest. I am trying to teach some of them 
to be real children first. When they have learned 


124 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


that, and dropped some of their shams, they will 
take the first steps toward a better life. ,? 

Living near each other and seeing each other 
every day at school, it was natural that they should 
form a set by themselves. But they grew rather 
selfish and exclusive. This may seem to be a 
pleasant way of living, but it is too narrow for 
the highest enjoyment. The character makes its 
best growth when people mingle naturally with 
all those who come about them in their relations 
and duties. Even children at school may learn 
much of real life, and obtain the true sym- 
pathy they should have by freely associating with 
all the others in their classes instead of holding 
themselves aloof from them. By forming sets and 
cliques they rob themselves of valuable friend- 
ships with other children. It creates friction and 
quarrels. It produces envy and jealousy on the 
part of those who are left out of benefits which 
they might properly expect to share. 

One day Rose Gaylord was kept in for some 
time after school to write off a lesson she did 
not know. All these girls were gone before she 
was dismissed. As she came down the steps she 
overtook Fannie Dudley and Lizzie Jones, two of 
her classmates, very bright, lively girls and good 
scholars. As Rose joined them Lizzie said, 


MRS. RUSSELL'S SABBATH-SCHOOL CLASS. 125 


a We ought to feel very much honored, I sup- 
pose, to have one of such a smart set walk down 
town with us.” 

Rose answered, “ Second choice is better than 
none.” 

“ Oh, you are willing to put up with us, as you 
can’t get any better, are you ? I should think 
you girls would get tired of each other and want 
a little variety sometimes.” 

“ Well, we have lots of fun, anyhow.” 

u Very poor kind of fun,” said Fanny. u You 
girls can’t think of anything but being with the 
boys.” 

u Oh, you know that is 6 sour grapes,’ for you 
would like nothing better than to go with 
us.” 

“ Thank you,” said Fanny ; “ I’m not crying 
for that kind of fun. My father wouldn’t let me 
be out on the streets with the boys as you were 
last Tuesday night. 

“ What do you know about it ? ” 

“ What do I know about it ? Just what every- 
body knows. Your ears would burn if you knew 
how everybody is talking about it.” 

“ Well, we did not do any harm. We were just 
laughing and singing, and people are very stupid 
to talk about it,” and Rose tossed her head in a 


126 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


little way she had, although she felt rather morti- 
fied by what she had just heard. 

“ I don’t see when you girls get time to study, 
gadding about on the streets in the afternoon and 
evening,” said Lizzie ; “ I don’t wonder you were 
kept in.” 

“ 1 was not the only one kept in,” said Rose. 
“ I think you need not say anything, either of 
you.” 

Lizzie laughed but blushed at the same time. 
“You know, Fan and I can’t help whispering in 
school.” 

After this confession Lizzie and Fannie could 
not keep up their high tone of good conduct 
in their talk, and feeling themselves on even 
terms the three girls laughed and chatted very 
pleasantly the rest of the way until they separated 
near their homes. 

Mrs. Russell wanted Margaret in her class, but 
at first she was in doubt whether it was best to 
invite her to join it. Unless the girls received 
her in the right spirit and made her welcome it 
would be very unpleasant for her to be a mem- 
ber. After much thought she told the girls 
about the sweet friendship she had enjoyed with 
her mother in her own school days in the East, 
and then about her father, and his business 


MRS. RUSSELL'S SABBATH-SCHOOL CLASS. 127 

failure, and his long sickness and death, and the 
poverty that followed. Then she asked the girls 
if they would like to have Margaret come into 
the class as a friend, not to be patronized but 
received as one of themselves. All seemed 
pleased and she asked them to vote for the 
new member, by raising their hands All raised 
their hands except Rose Gaylord and Ethel 
Donahue, though they were afraid to say anything 
against it. 

By this method, which of course could not 
often be tried, Mrs. Russell brought nearly all the 
girls to Margaret’s side, and awakened their sym- 
pathy for her, and when she was introduced to 
them the next Sunday, she was received in a 
very friendly way. They all thought she was a 
very sweet-looking girl and said they would go 
to see her, but good intentions and promises 
often fail. The most of the girls forgot, or 
could not find a time when they did not want to 
do something else. So it came about that only 
Laura Fullerton and Emily Carroll went to see 
her in the early part of the summer. 


CHAPTER XII. 


A QUARREL. 

If fun is good, truth is still better and love most of all.” 

W. M. Thackeray. 

Truth, freedom, virtue — these, dear child, have power, 

If rightly cherished, to uphold, sustain, 

And bless thy spirit in its darkest hour ; 

Neglect them — thy celestial gifts are vain ; 

In dust shall thy weak wings be dragged and soiled ; 

Thy soul be crushed ’neath gauds for which it basely toiled. 

Ephraim Peabody. 

One bright morning in the early summer Alice 
started down to see Rose Gaylord. The two 
girls were to go out to take some photographs 
if the day was not too hot. This morning a cool 
breeze was blowing from the north, and Alice 
felt very happy as she walked briskly down the 
street. She enjoyed the beautiful morning and 
the glow that comes from the exercise of a strong 
and healthy body, the mere delight of walking 
and running and seeing God’s beautiful handi- 
work all about her. And she had before her the 

anticipation of a pleasant morning with Rose. 
128 


A QUARREL. 


129 


Rose liad a very good camera which took views 
five inches by seven, and she was skillful in using 
it, and had learned something about choosing the 
best views. Just as Alice reached Ethel’s she 
met heron the pavement. Ethel said: “Were 
you going to my house ? I was just going to 
see you.” 

“No,” said Alice, “I am going to Rose Gay- 
lord’s. Don’t you remember I told you yester- 
day we were going out to get some views along 
the river.” 

“ Oh, I forgot all about it.” 

“ Come, go with us, Ethel ; ” but Alice did not 
give the invitation very heartily, for she knew 
they would feel freer without Ethel. 

“ No, thank you,” said Ethel, who did not fail 
to notice the hollowness of this invitation, which 
made her feel worse. “You will be climbing 
fences and going through the bushes and tearing 
your dresses, and scratching up your shoes. I 
won’t go.” 

“ I suppose we will,” said Alice, who never let 
her clothes interfere with her having a good 
time. 

Ethel felt a deep sense of disappointment. 
She had her own plan for that morning which 
she would now have to give up. She did not 
9 


130 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


like to be left out of Alice’s good times, for she 
loved her with a very deep affection that was 
almost fierce in its nature. She was often jeal- 
ous of the other girls when they took Alice away 
from her on some pleasure in which she had no 
part. Now the fire of jealousy began to burn in 
her heart, and she did not resist the evil feelings 
as she should have done. Then she thought 
perhaps she could get Alice to stay with her. 

“ I wouldn’t go with Rose Gaylord, if I were 
you ; a girl who says mean things about you and 
makes fun of you.” 

“ Oh, Ethel, I think not. You don’t mean 
that. You say it because you are mad.” And 
Alice walked along a little way. 

“ She did. She made fun of you only last 
night.” 

Alice stopped and turned partly around. At 
first she thought she would pay no attention to 
what Ethel said, which would have been the com- 
mon-sense way of treating the matter. Then she 
thought there might be something in it. She 
was a very sensitive child and often, when 
younger, had “ nearly cried her eyes out” over 
some childish slight or unkind remark. “ Now, 
what was it?” she asked, turning squarely 
around and facing Ethel. 


A QUARREL. 


131 


“ Oh, if you knew you would be mad enough/’ 
said Ethel, who saw the effect of her remark and 
felt a wicked joy in it, and at the same time 
wanted it to work in deeper. 

“Now, what did she say about me? You 
must tell me or I never will forgive you, Ethel.” 

“ I don’t want to tell you, you won’t like it ; 
and I hate to make you feel bad.” 

“ I want to know right now, and you must 
tell me.” 

“ Last night there were several of us girls 
down at Elsie’s, talking, you know, and Rose 
said ” 

“ Were you talking about me,” demanded 
Alice. 

“ Oh, no ; I wouldn’t let them talk about you. 
But Elsie said she was sorry you got so mad the 
other day playing tennis, and Rose said, girls 
that have fiery hair always have fiery tempers, 
and make trouble for everybody over nothing.” 

“ I don’t believe it, Ethel. Did she say such a 
thing about me ? ” and Alice’s eyes filled with 
tears. “ I won’t go near her house, and I don’t 
care if I never see her again.” 

“ Come in, Alice, and stay with me. And 
don’t feel hurt. I wouldn’t care for what she said, 
nor have anything to do with her.” And Ethel 


132 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


tried to allay the storm she had raised, and com- 
fort her friend. 

“ No. I am going home.” 

“ Oh, do come in.” Now Ethel began to be 
in trouble, for Rose, who lived near, had seen the 
girls talking together, and after calling to Alice 
and not getting any answer, was coming over. 

“ Alice, are you ready ? Let us start now.” 
But Alice turned her back to Rose. 

Rose saw how red her face was and how em- 
barrassed Ethel looked. “ What is the matter, 
Alice ? Can’t you speak to me ? ” 

u I don’t care if I never speak to you again. 
To say what you did of me ! ” 

u What have I said ? I have not been talking 
about you, Alice. Indeed I have not.” 

“ Yes, you have, you said awful things about 
me, I know.” 

“ You can’t know, for I did not do it.” 
u Ethel told me so. She told me just what 
you said.” 

“ Oh, I never. She has told a story. What 
was it, and when was it ? It is something Ethel 
has been telling you, and she made it up out of 
her own head.” 

“ I did not,” said Ethel. “ You said it. You 
know you did.” 


A QUARREL. 


133 


“ I have not said anything bad about you, 
Alice. I don’t know what you are hurt about. 
She has been telling you stories. Come over to 
my house and tell me what is the matter,” said 
Rose, who now remembered the talk of last night. 

But by this time Alice had heard enough to 
feel hurt at both her friends, and she was gone, 
walking swiftly, homeward. The day was just 
as bright, the flowers as gay, the birds singing as 
sweetly as when a short time before she had almost 
danced along the street, rejoicing in the glad- 
ness and beauty of the world about her. But 
now she had no eyes to see the morning’s loveli- 
ness, nor ears to enjoy the concert of robins and 
blue birds, for her little heart was heavy with 
the sense of injury, and distrust. She was very 
angry with Rose, very much in doubt about 
Ethel, and provoked with her, and quite sure 
somebody had been talking about her, and she 
was very unhappy. So it was about half an hour 
after she left home when she came back again, 
with a rapid step, her eyes downcast. Into the 
house she hurried without looking around, and 
upstairs to her own room and shut the door. 
Mrs. Russell caught just a glimpse of her face 
and thought she had been crying. After a little 
she went upstairs and opened the door of her 


134 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


room. Alice was lying on the bed with her face 
in the pillow. 

“ Alice, what is the matter? ” 

There was no answer. 

“ Why did you not stay with Rose?” 

In muffled tones : “ I did not go there. I’ll 
never go to see the hateful thing again ! Never ! ” 

“ Don’t speak so, Alice.” 

Certainly it was not a nice way to talk, but 
every one who sees much of children knows that 
it is common enough. 

By close questioning Mrs. Russell found out 
all that Alice knew about the trouble. Then she 
said : 

“ Probably there is some mistake about this. 
If Rose was so positive that she had not said any- 
thing to hurt you, we must believe there is some 
mistake. Ethel has not remembered just what 
she said, or she has misrepresented it. That is 
often the way. It would have been only fair 
to allow Rose to explain, and when she does 
talk it over with you, it may be very easy 
for you to forgive her. I wish Ethel had 
not told you anything about it. My child, you 
must not let such things annoy you. If you do, 
you will have no end of trouble all your life. 
Some people will call your hair red. You 


A QUARREL. 


135 


must expect that, and not get offended. But 
your hair is not red. It is what is called auburn. 
I don't think it will make you vain to know 
it. It is a very beautiful shade. Some great 
artists have admired it so much that they look 
for just such tresses to paint in their finest 
pictures. But now do not think about it. Learn 
to feel above what people say about you. Do 
you remember what I read to you from Thack- 
eray not long ago ? 

66 6 The world is a mirror, and it gives back to 
every man the reflection of his own face. Frown 
at it, and it in turn will look sourly at you ; laugh 
with it and at it, and it is a jolly, kind com- 
panion/ 

“ As for your temper, you are learning to con- 
trol it. I am glad you did not say much to- 
day. Be watchful and ask God to help you 
every time you are tempted, and you will over- 
come it/’ 

Gradually Alice was comforted by her mother’s 
wise and tender words. 

Ethel did not escape without some sharp words 
from Rose that opened her eyes to see what a 
wicked thing she had done. As she went to the 
house she felt ashamed of herself, and wished 
she had not said what she had. She went up to 


136 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


see Alice in the afternoon but did not find her at 
home. She had gone out with her mother to 
ride, and they had taken Margaret Marshall with 
them. 

Ethel felt quite deserted, and tasted the bitter 
fruits of her jealousy and deceit. But the ex- 
perience was useful to her and she resolved never 
to act so foolishly again. Though she had 
fallen far from truth and charity, her eyes were 
opened to see how hateful she had been, and 
this by the grace of God led her to repentance. 
So it became a stepping-stone to a better life. 

In the afternoon Mrs. Russell met Laura Ful- 
lerton and asked her if she was at Elsie’s with 
the girls the evening before. She said, “ Yes.” 

Then she asked if Rose had said anything 
unkind about Alice. 

“ No, I think not. Nothing that I remember.” 

Mrs. Russell then told what Ethel had re- 
peated. 

“ Oh, I remember about it now. Rose did say 
that, but it was not about Alice. We were 
talking about another girl. Then afterwards 
when some one told about Alice being angry in 
the tennis game, Rose said ‘and she has red 
hair.’ She ought not to have said it, but it was 
not as unkind as the first remark.” 


A QUARREL . 


1S7 


Mrs. Russell was glad to get at the facts. She 
was more concerned about the untruthfulness in- 
volved in the quarrel than anything else. She 
knew the temptations that beset children to be 
untruthful. She was aware that Ethel was at 
times deceitful, and that she had sometimes in- 
volved Alice in her tangled ways. 

Mrs. Russell was such a truthful, open-hearted 
person that she tried in every way to counteract 
this influence and to teach Alice and the other 
girls the supreme value of truth. And she be- 
lieved that with God’s help she would succeed. 

The next morning Rose came up early to see 
Alice bringing her one of her most beautiful 
views. She explained, more fully than Laura 
had done, just what she had said, confessed it 
was a thoughtless, hasty remark, and asked Alice 
to forgive her. So the quarrel was ended in a 
happy reconciliation, and the two girls went out 
with the camera, and spent a pleasant morning 
together, taking views. 


CHAPTER XIII. 


TALK AND PLAT. 


A lie is like a snow-ball — the farther you roll it the bigger 
it becomes. 


Luther. 


Two little lips, 

Red, red, 

Red as the flamy coral- tips, 

Sweet as the rose the wild bee sips, 

Singing and prattling all day long, 

And kissing and coaxing with witchery strong : 
What shall we ask for these little lips ? 

From thine altar, Lord, above, 

Touch these lips with fire of love ; 

Pure, pure let them be, 

Speaking holy melodies 
Out of a holy heart that rise 
Warm, bright, up to thee ! 


Rev. J. K. Nutting. 


Some of the girls were a little inconsistent in 
their general course, which is not strange after 
all. Man has been called, “ A bundle of in con- 
sistencies.’ ’ Every one is apt to be inconsistent 
sometimes, and if the life is not wise and true and 
good, its inconsistencies may he its best part. 

So these girls who wished to be 
138 


regarded 


TALK AND PLAY. 


139 


as young ladies were sometimes very childish. 
They could not altogether repress their nature. 
They would forget themselves and hop, skip, 
and run. Occasionally they had a game of 
hide and seek or catcher, when they all went out 
to Alice Russell’s and thought the hoys would 
not see them, and when they played in this way 
they always enjoyed it very much. 

Though they all played lawn-tennis, some of 
them were so old-fashioned as to also play cro- 
quet. Perhaps it was not old-fashioned either, for 
about this time a new interest was taken in this 
game, which had seemed to be hopelessly decayed. 
One of the great weekly journals even published 
articles against it, making mild fun of it, but it 
was a waste of words. 

Mrs. Russell did not like croquet and did not 
encourage Alice to play it. She often suggested 
something else, when the girls wanted to play. 
She thought the game led to much deceit and 
quarreling. It was so easy to cheat a little when 
one who was not a good player was behind. If 
several were playing, it was hard for each one to 
watch all the balls. There were many ways in 
which disputes arose from mistakes on one side 
or the other. It was not often that a game was 
played without some unpleasantness. 


140 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


One day in J uly, Ethel, Elsie, Bessie and Rose 
were playing, while Alice, Laura and Margaret 
were sitting under the elm tree on the bank of 
the little brook. Davie Fullerton, who was a cute 
little fellow, nearly five years old, was wading 
in the stream, and trying his best to catch 
minnows, dipping up water and mud in an old 
milk pan. At last he caught three, and brought 
them to Laura in high glee. “ Oh ! I wish we 
had a ribber on our place, Laura,” said he. 

About this time the players were having a 
great dispute about the place where Bessie’s ball 
had gone out of boundaries, and where it was to 
be placed in bringing it in. Bessie wanted to 
put it near Rose’s ball, who was her partner. 
The others were quite sure it had rolled off the 
bounds much farther to one side. The girls were 
getting quite excited over the question, and 
charging each other with not playing a fair 
game. 

Mrs. Russell heard the loud voices, and a few 
minutes later she came out with a tray of glasses, 
a pitcher of lemonade and a plate of cookies. 

“ Girls, you are very hot playing in the sun, and 
I do not think you are enjoying that game. Let 
it go. Come under the elm tree and have some 
lemonade.” 


TALK AND PLAY, \ 


141 


“ How nice of you, Mrs. Russell,” said Elsie ; 
“ I don’t want to play any more. It is horrid to 
quarrel so ; I am ashamed of myself.” 

“ I wonder what you think of us,” said Ethel. 
“But after I had scattered those balls I was not 
going to let them get together again so easily.” 

“We were just where you put us.” 

“ Now, girls, compose your differences,” said 
Laura. 

“ Oh, listen to the dictionary.” 

“ Oh, no ! ” cried Elsie, “ that is Professor 
Jackson. You need not put on style, Laura, 
you are not in the high school yet.” 

While they were sitting enjoying the lemonade, 
Laura asked Mrs. Russell to tell them about her 
school-days. She told them a number of in- 
cidents, and described some of the girls, now 
mothers of families like herself. 

“I remember one game of croquet I played 
that lasted two hours. Mr. Russell was my part- 
ner, but he was a boy then in short coats, and 
Rose’s father and Mary Davis played against us. 
Mary died many years ago, before she was grown.” 

“ Not many years,” said Elsie. 

“ Yes, it seems like many years, Elsie. The 
ground was so smooth that it was easy to play on 
it, and the boys kept hitting all the balls and 


142 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


knocking them out of position as soon as they got 
in place, and we did not get on very fast. We 
did not quarrel much that day. Another game, 
I remember, I played with some persons who do 
not live here now, and I will not tell you their 
names. One of the hoys could not play as well 
as my partner, and he was very mean in his way 
of playing. 1 saw him more than once move his 
ball slyly into better position with his foot. I 
showed him how he did it and objected to it, but 
he denied that he had touched it. When he was 
near the turning post I knocked his ball away 
before he hit it, and afterwards he said he had 
been to the stake, and was going on. Such de- 
ceit made me very indignant, and I suppose that 
is the reason why I remember it. I would rather 
forget such things.” 

“ I should think it would make you indignant/’ 
said Laura. 

“ You all remember Miriam Webster, I am 
sure.” 

“ Oh, yes,” they all said. 

u She was lovely,” said Elsie. 

u And very popular,” added Ethel ; “ and she 
had a large, beautifid wedding and loads of 
presents.” 

“ Yes, girls, it is all true ; and why was it that 


TALK AND PL A Y. 


143 


every one loved her ? It was because she herself 
was so loving, sympathetic and true. She was 
open-hearted and candid. She did not speak 
unkindly of others, and she was always sincere. 
She meant what she said, and people knew they 
could depend on her. She was witty, but her 
wit was kindly, never sarcastic, and she did not 
indulge in gossiping. I once read of a little girl 
who was asked what gossip was. She replied, 
‘ It is putting two and two together, and making 
five of them.’ ” 

“ That was a pretty good definition,” said 
Bessie. “It is so easy to add to a good story 
about somebody.” 

Ethel thought the talk was getting rather close 
to her, so she remarked : 

“ Exaggeration is very common. Everybody 
does it. My father says it is a characteristic of 
American humor.” 

“ So it is, Ethel, but it is none the less a fault. 
And when the story that is enlarged is about 
some person, it is very wrong. A little thing, 
not wrong in itself, may grow as it is repeated, 
until it is black enough to destroy an innocent 
person’s reputation.” 

“ It seems low and mean to tell an untruth,’ 
said Elsie. 


144 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS . 


“ Truth is like the light,” said Laura, “ and 
sunlight is a beautiful thing.” 

“ Then I suppose lying is like darkness,” sug- 
gested Alice. 

“ There is a good thought in that,” said Mrs. 
Russell. u Darkness is the absence of all light. 
It is the opposite of the light of day. So lying is 
the opposite of the truth. What is truth ? It is 
a correspondence of words to the real facts. You 
remember what our pastor, Dr. Porter, said of it 
in one of his sermons, do you not ? ” 

“ Oh, yes,” said Ethel, “ for you had us learn 
it the next Sunday. It is ‘ justice in all the rela- 
tions of men.’ ” 

“ But, Mrs. Russell,” continued Ethel, “ people 
sometimes say things which they think are right 
and true, but they are not. They do not know. 
You would not call that lying.” 

“ Certainly not. They have made a mistake 
and speak in ignorance. What they say is un- 
true, but they did not intend to deceive. You 
must remember, girls, that often evil has good 
mixed with it. If it had not it would be seen 
in its true light, and every one would hate 
it. So with falsehood and error. If it is joined 
with some truth, that gives it an air of probability 
and leads people to believe it. For that reason 


TALK AND PLA Y 


145 


we ought to be careful to consider and weigh 
what we hear, and what we believe and say, and 
drop out all that is false. When we are not sure 
we should not be positive. A lie is telling what 
we know to be untrue. It is saying a thing is 
so, when we know it is not so, or saying it is not 
so, when we know it is so. The essence of a lie 
is the intention to deceive. We wish to make 
a false impression on the mind of another person. 
We may tell a lie without saying a word.” 

u Is it always necessary to tell the truth ? ” 
asked Bessie. “ I mean if we see something we 
do not like about a person, and it would be un- 
kind to tell them, can we not conceal our knowl- 
edge of it or pass it by ? ” 

u I suppose we are not obliged to tell every- 
thing we see or know or think of,” said Laura. 
“ I think it is very unpleasant, when you are sick 
to have some one come in and say, ‘ How white 
you look to-day. ? That is the way my Aunt 
Jane does, and I believe it makes sick people 
worse to talk that way to them.” 

i( The great law is kindness,” said Mrs. Rus- 
sell. “ Sometimes it is kind to leave people in 
ignorance of things it would do them no good to 
know. If they are sick it may worry them to talk 
to them about it. But there is no necessity of 

IO 


146 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


telling untruths even then. The Bible says, 
6 Speaking the truth in love.’ ” 

“ I would like to ask a question/’ said Ethel. 
“ Do you think it right to have the servant say, 
‘ Not at home/ when people call and you cannot 
see them ? There are ladies who do that, and say 
it is not a story, because it is a common custom 
in society.” 

“ I know, Ethel, that many do so. They say 
it is so generally understood as an excuse that it 
is not a lie. But it is not right to use it. If it 
is an excuse, why not choose a better one that is 
unequivocal ? Why not send word, 6 Mrs. A. 
wishes to be excused ; ’ or, c Miss B. is engaged and 
asks to be excused 9 ? Certainly the caller would 
feel much less offended, than if you should send 
word, ‘ Not at home/ and afterwards it should 
be known that you were at home.” 

“ Do you not think that timid people and chil- 
dren are more tempted to tell stories than bold and 
courageous persons? ” asked Margaret, who was 
so modest that she did not talk much among 
these girls. “ That is what my father said, and 
he used to tell me to be courageous, and face the 
consequence whenever I made a mistake, or did 
anything wrong.” 

“ I am glad you asked that question, Margaret, 


TALK AND PL A Y. 


147 


for I wanted to speak of it. It is cowardice that 
causes many attempts at deception ; but it is 
much better to acknowledge a fault and ask for- 
giveness, or apologize for a mistake, than to try 
to cover it up. It is manly in a boy or man, to 
do so, and it ought to be womanly in a girl or 
woman. It does win forgiveness and respect. 
But to try to cover up a fault by lying about 
it, only adds to the injury, and lowers the person 
a great deal in the opinion of others/’ 

“ There was a boy who lived near us in our old 
home whom I used to pity,” said Margaret. <( His 
father was very severe with him. The boy was 
always afraid of a whipping, and if he had done 
anything wrong he tried to escape by lying. It 
was not often he succeeded. He was generally 
found out, and got a double whipping. One day 
he went in swimming when he was not well and 
his father had told him he must not go. His 
father saw him going to the river with some boys, 
and as soon as he could get away he followed him 
and found him in the water. He called him out 
and took him home, and the boy was so scared 
he was nearly as white as a sheet. But his father 
did not whip him. He talked to him so kindly and 
seriously that Tommy felt worse than if he had 
been whipped. He told me all about it, and I 


148 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


said, 6 Don t tell any more lies, Tommy, and your 
father will trust you and you will get along much 
easier and he did try to be a good boy. Soon 
after that we moved down here. ,, 

“ There is a good deal in your story for those 
who are parents as well as for children,” said Mrs. 
Russell. “ I must go into the house again to my 
sewing, but before I go let us think of what the 
Bible says about lying. If it is detestable to us it 
must be more so to God. He hates it. The Bible 
says, ‘ Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord/ 
It also says, c He hates the false witness and one 
who sows discord among his brethren/ It says 
again, ‘ The liar will have his portion in the 
lake that burneth with fire and brimstone,’ ‘ The 
secret thing will be found out, and that which is 
spoken in the house will be proclaimed on the 
housetop/ 

“ Our lesson next Sunday brings this up, and I 
have been thinking to-day about Peter, how Jesus 
looked at him with so much sorrow when he was 
lying and cursing, and denying him. It seems 
to me he was more grieved that Peter was tell- 
ing a lie, than because he was deserting him in his 
hour of trial. He looked at Peter with grief 
and tender yearning over him in his sin and 
fall. That look brought Peter to repentance. 


TALK AND PLAY. 


149 


The Lord grieves over us in the same way when 
we are sinful and mean and untruthful .* 9 

Mrs. Russell rose to go in, but the girls begged 
her to stay longer. 

She said, “ This is enough of serious talk for 
to-day. You will remember it better than if we 
should talk more. The sun has gone behind the 
trees. Go and have a good game all together, 
and I will finish my sewing.” 

So they had a merry, romping game of hide-and- 
seek. When they went home at half-past five 
o’clock they all said, “ We have had a delightful 
time and we are coming again soon.” 


CHAPTER XIV. 


AN AFTERNOON FULL OF FUN. 

I love to look on a scene like this, 

Of wild and careless play, 

And persuade myself that I am not old, 

And my locks are not yet gray : 

For it stirs the blood of an old man’s heart, 

And makes his pulses fly, 

To catch the thrill of a happy voice, 

And the light of a pleasant eye. 

N. P. Willis. 

The summer brought a new pleasure to some 
of the girls. Rose and Elsie and two or three 
others had ponies and they made up little riding 
parties nearly every morning and evening. 

How grand it is to skim along the roads in the 
country, hounding over the hills, sweeping down 
into and through the valleys, feeling the horse 
beneath you answer every motion and wish, as if 
he were intent on pleasing you. And then what 
a joy it is to feel the blood thrilling anew all 
through your veins and to see in others eyes bright 

with the exciting exercise, and cheeks rosy with 
150 


AN AFTERNOON FULL OF FUN 


151 


the healthy tints of youth and beauty. No wonder 
that Alice often envied them, and began to desire 
very strongly to have a pony of her own and to be 
one of the gay riders. But neither Ethel nor Mar- 
garet encouraged her in this. Ethel did not care to 
ride. Margaret talked about it with her, and 
shared Alice’s enthusiasm, but she did not make 
herself unhappy by vainly wishing for things she 
knew she could not have. She had the happy 
faculty of finding pleasure in the things at hand in 
every day of her life, and trusting the to-morrow 
to that loving Saviour who was her best Friend 
and Protector. 

At last Alice thought she could not live any 
longer without a pony. She said to her father 
one day, 

u It would be very nice if I had a pony I could 
ride.” 

“ Yes, pet, it would delightful. I know it and 
have thought a good deal about it. I am glad 
the girls have taken to riding. It is healthy and 
sensible exercise, and grand sport. But I do not 
see how I can keep three horses.” 

u A pony would not cost much, would it, papa, 
nor eat as much as a big horse ? ” 

“ No, it would not cost much. I could buy one 
if that were all. But it would eat nearly as much 


152 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


as a horse, and there is no room for it in the 
stable, and it would be another animal to take 
care of all the year round. Does my little girl 
wish very much to ride ? ” 

“ Oh, yes, papa ; indeed I do ! The girls all 
have so much fun, and I am left out of it all the 
time. They don’t do anything now but ride 
every evening.” 

“ I think I must let you ride on Tom some- 
time. There is a side-saddle I can get second- 
hand for a few dollars that will do very well 
while you are small.” 

“ Oh ! have you really looked at one ? ” Alice 
was delighted. She danced up and down, and 
then threw her arms around her father and de- 
clared he was the best papa in the world. 

Tom was an old horse, very gentle and steady, 
but not by any means slow. Mr. Kussell felt 
sure he would be safe for his little girl. That 
day he brought the side-saddle home at noon, 
and Edgar put Alice on Tom’s back and gave her 
a lesson in riding. She rode only in the yard, 
and felt too strange and timid to let Tom go 
faster than a walk. In a day or too she grew 
braver, and Edgar brought out the other horse 
and rode with her out into the country. Alice soon 
learned how to keep her seat and to manage 


AN AFTERNOON FULL OF FUN 


153 


Tom. Soon she was able to join Rose and Elsie 
and the other girls in their rides. 

Mary Robinson’s mother, who was a cousin of 
Mrs. Russell, was quite unwell this summer. Mrs. 
Russell went to see her often, and as soon as she 
began to improve took her out to drive. She 
started early one afternoon and brought Margaret 
out to stay with Alice until evening. Then as 
she was going for Mrs. Robinson, Alice asked if 
she could not have Mary and the younger chil- 
dren come out, also. 

“If you want them you would better go 
with me, and then you will be sure to get 
them.” 

“ I dislike to leave Margaret here alone.” 

“ Oh ! never mind me. I will lie in your ham- 
mock and read ‘ My Summer in a Canon.’ ” 

Mrs. Robinson thought it would be too much 
trouble to dress Louie and Lester and little Ruth 
to go out. Louie was eight years old, and Ruth 
was now three, but still called the baby. Mary 
and Alice said they would dress the children, and 
great fun they had with Ruth. 

“ Where is Lester ? ” asked Alice. 

“He is with Fred, over at Jackson’s. Our 
Fred and Willie Jackson have a fruit stand over 
there. They expect to make a fortune. You 


154 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS . 


would think they were millionaires to hear them 
talk.” 

“ 0 what fun ! I must go over and see it 
while you are getting Louie ready, and I will 
bring Lester back with me.” 

The boys had a board for a counter, laid across 
two nail-kegs on the grass near the sidewalk. 
There was no fence in front of the little yard. 
Under the board were two half-bushel baskets 
full of small red peaches that looked very tempt- 
ing. 

“ What are you selling, boys ? ” 

“ Peaches. Ten cents a quart. Don’t you 
want some ? They are dandy peaches for ten 
cents,” said Willie who seemed to be running the 
little store. 

u Where did you buy them ? ” 

“ At old Mr. Thomas’s farm. He let us have 
three baskets nearly full for a dollar and a half, 
and we have sold one basket clean out, and have 
more’n a dollar a’ready. He’s got the boss 
peach-orchard,” said Fred. 

“ Buy a quart,” said Willie. 

“ Yes, I will,” and Alice put her hand in her 
pocket. “ But I haven’t any money here.” 

“ Can’t you bring the ten cents down this 
evening ? ” asked Fred, 


AN AFTERNOON FULL OF FUN 


155 


“ We sell for cash/’ said Willie. 

“ I think mamma will lend it to me. She is 
over at your house, Fred.” 

Alice then told Lester about going up home 
with her. He was not anxious to go. He 
wanted to watch the boys sell peaches, but Alice 
knew that Mary could not leave him there, so she 
persuaded him to go. Just then the mayor of 
the city came down the street smoking a cigar, 
and talking to another gentleman. Willie said to 
Fred, 

“ You ask them.” 

“ No, you do it,” said Fred. 

Before the boys got up courage to say anything 
the mayor stopped. 

“Well, well ! boys, have you taken out a license 
to peddle peaches on the street ? ” 

The boys were scared at first, but when they 
saw the mayor wink at his companion, they took 
heart again. 

“ W e are not on the street ; we are in my 
yard,” said Willie. 

“This is a store. We aren't peddlers,” said 
Fred. 

“ Oh ! I see,” said the mayor. “ This is a new 
firm. c Robinson and Jackson, Fruit Dealers.’ 
What are you going to do with your money ? ” 


156 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


u I am going to buy a safety,” said Fred. 

“ And I want a gun,” said Willie. 

“ A gun ! And you are about ten years old I 
think. I am afraid if you get it you and the 
gun will go off together. No, no, sonny, wait 
awhile.” 

“ Won’t you buy some peaches?” 

But the mayor had entered on a new term of 
office, in the spring, and the next election seemed 
far away, so he declined and passed on. Two 
ladies, who were on their way down town, stopped 
to speak to the boys. They told them about the 
safety, but said nothing about the gun, for they 
knew that would frighten them. One of them 
was Mrs. George Robinson, an aunt of Fred’s. 
She got out a quarter and would take no change, 
and the other lady paid for a quart of fruit. The 
boys snickered a good deal as the ladies went on. 
Willie said, “ Lucky she did not ask me what 
I was going to do with my money. I ’spect we 
need not tell about that gun anyhow. Mebbe 
Pa won’t let me buy it. Just like him.” 

Alice now took Lester back to his mother, 
and Fred went with her to get the dime for the 
peaches. Lester was five years old, and thought 
he was almost a man. He said he could dress 
himself, but he got his shoes buttoned up wrong 


AN AFTERNOON FULL OF FUN 


157 


and his hair tangled. Putting Ruth in her 
baby wagon the girls wheeled her up to Mrs. 
Russell’s, for it was too far for her to walk. 

Margaret was so absorbed in her reading she 
did not hear them until they were near the 
house. 

“ Did you think we were never coming ?” 
Mary asked. 

“ I was reading about Polly’s quarrel with that 
provoking visitor, and I did not think about the 
time. Come, Ruth, and see me,” and she took 
her up in the hammock. As she was looking 
for a mark to put in the book, Alice said, 

“ Turn down a corner. That’s the way I do.” 

“ Oh, no. I would not do that. It will spoil 
this nice book. If you mark your books that way, 
Alice, they will be like old Mrs. Parker.” 

“ Why so, Margaret ? I can’t see what you 
mean.” 

“ They will have ears, but not be able to hear.” 

“ But Mrs. Parker’s ears are not dogs’ ears,” 
said Mary. 

“ I guess not,” said Lester. “ Dogs’ ears are 
long and hairy. She would look funny if her 
ears were like that.” 

“I don’t mean any disrespect to Mrs. Parker 
or her ears,” said Margaret. 


158 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


“ What shall we all do ? ” asked Alice. 

“I want a apple, Cousin Alice,” said little 
Ruth. 

“ Why Ruth ! you must not ask for things in 
that way,” said Mary. 

“ Bless your little heart, that’s all right. You 
shall have all the apples you want. The ground is 
covered with them. W e have to feed them to the 
cows to get rid of them. Come, pet, we will go 
out to the apple trees.” While they were gather- 
ing August Sweets and Red Astrachans they saw 
Martin raking hay in a small meadow behind the 
stable — a second crop for that year. 

“ I want to make hay,” said Lester. 

“ Ye’re the bye for me,” said Martin. “ There’s 
a rake by the fince.” 

The girls watched Lester with the long rake, very 
much amused. Then they wanted to help him, but 
he scorned the aid of girls. Martin said : u Stay 
by the h^y till I bring the horse and ye can 
ride, for ye must be all tired out wid yer hard 
wurruk.” 

He soon came back leading a horse and carry- 
ing a long rope. He tied the two ends together 
and laid the rope straight on the ground, the 
two sides separated two or three feet. Then he 
piled a great heap of hay on it, and brought one 


AN AFTERNOON FULL OF FUN 


159 


end of the rope over the hay and slipped it 
through the loop at the other end. 

He hitched the horse to the rope and was all 
ready to pull it in. He told the children to climb 
on, and said to the horse, “ Stip up Tom ; ye’ve 
got a purty load behind ye now.” 

Lester had pulled a long sprout from an apple 
tree. He hit the horse and Tom started so sud- 
denly that Alice and Mary fell over and rolled 
off behind. But they were not hurt and ran 
quickly and jumped on again. They laughed and 
shouted and had fine sport. They made so 
much noise that Ethel Donahue, who was looking 
for them in the orchard, heard them and came 
running out to the stable. 

61 Oh, Ethel, come. We are having so much 
fun.” 

16 Margaret said you were getting apples.” 

“ No ; we are riding on the hay. Come along. 
Martin is going for another load.” 

“ It is so dusty, and you get hayseed all over 

y°u” 

u Oh, never mind that. It is clean dirt and 
will all brush off.” 

“ But I don’t like it. It is so rough.” 

“ Oh, Ethel, I wouldn’t be such a fine lady,” 
said Mary. “ Come and have some fun.” 


160 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


“ You miss a great many very good times,” 
said Margaret. 

So Ethel was persuaded to join them and soon 
forgot all about her dress, and they had a fine 
time riding, until the hay was all drawn in. 
Then Alice asked if they could have the horse 
and saddle. 

u Yes,” said Martin, “ whin I have stowed 
away me hay. I can’t stop to change him now.” 

“ Oh, girls ! let’s make some lemonade ; mamma 
said we could have some.” 

So into the kitchen they went, and Mary, the 
warm-hearted Irish girl, got all the things for 
them and a plate of cookies besides. 

“ There’s two for ivery wan of you.” 

u Thanks, Mary,” said Alice, who was rolling 
the lemons on the table. When the lemonade 
was made and they had all tasted it to see if 
there was just the right amount of sugar in it, 
they went out on the side porch to drink it. 

“ Just look at Louie. She is eating it with a 
spoon. Why don’t you drink out of the tum- 
bler ? ” asked Lester. 

“ It lasts longer,” said Louie. 

“ Oh, Louie, there is plenty,” and Alice filled 
up her glass. 

When Martin brought out the horse, Alice 


AN AFTERNOON FULL OF FUN 161 

said that Margaret ought to ride first. Martin 
laid some boards on top of a barrel and put a box 
beside it, so they could easily mount. Behind 
Margaret they put Louie, and Ruth between them, 
her little fat legs sticking out straight. 

Lester was quite put out. He wanted to go ; 
but Mary said, 

“ Let the girls go first.” 

“ Always the girls must go first. I guess 
boys are as good as girls,” said Lester. 

“ Because the boys are stronger they should 
let the girls have the first chance in everything. 
Gentlemen always give up their seats to ladies, 
and let them go first ; and you want to grow up 
to be a gentleman don’t you ? ” said Margaret, 
kindly. 

Lester could not answer, and so he kicked 
the fence. 

They rode around the meadow and on the 
drive a few minutes, up and down twice. 

“ Now it is my turn,” said Lester, “and I am 
goingtwice, too.” 

“ Twice two will be four,” said Louie. 

“ Smarty, I mean two times ; you know.” 

Alice took the little girls down and helped 
Margaret off. Then Ethel got on. Lester could 
hardly wait so long, and in his hurry to mount 


162 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


he pushed the boards along, and, as he stepped 
on top of the barrel, they slipped inside and 
Lester disappeared. A black hen flew out with 
a great flourish of her wings and noisy cackling, 
and Lester began to howl. Tom jumped to one 
side, but Alice caught the bridle-rein and stopped 
him. When Mary and Margaret looked in the 
barrel, they saw an amusing sight. They laughed 
till the tears came. Poor Lester was crouched 
down afraid to move. He thought if he put his 
head out the hen would fly at him, and if he took 
a step he would break more eggs. At first he 
felt disgraced. Then he grew angry at the 
girls for laughing at him instead of helping him 
out. 

“ That is the old black hen ; we knew she was 
sitting but could not find her nest.” 

“ Lester has found it to his sorrow,” said Mar- 
garet, “but I don’t think it will do you much 
good.” 

“ Come, you poor boy,” said Mary, as she 
tried to pull him out. 

“ Oh, Lester,” said Ethel, “ look at your shoes 
and stockings ; and what a smell ! Phew ! ” and 
she made Tom move away. What the old hen 
said they could not understand, but her opinion 
was given in loud and angry tones. 


AN AFTERNOON FULL OF FUN. 


163 


The girls comforted Lester and took him down 
by the brook. Alice brought some soap and 
they washed the dirt off his clothes. They let 
him go barefoot, while his stockings were drying 
in the hot sun. Alice then ran up to her room 
and brought down her precious bottle of cologne, 
and sprinkled it over Lester. 

Martin had taken out the eggs and washed off 
the seven that were not broken, and put fresh 
hay in the barrel and then put them back again. 
The old hen flew up on the barrel, looked in, but 
did not like the change in her little home, and 
was cackling loudly about it. Ruth watched 
her very soberly, and then said as gravely as an 
old woman might, 

“ Bid back hen say : ‘ Bad-bad-boy ; bad-bad- 
boy.’ ” 

The girls were still full of laugh, and this set 
them off again, which made Lester angry. “ I’m 
not a bad boy,” he cried. “ That nasty old hen 
had no business in that barrel.” 

Then Ruth said, 66 Lester’s face red ’cause he 
ky’ed. Back hen’s comb red. ’Spect she’s kyhT 
’cause her eggs all boken.” 

u Poor old hen,” said Margaret. “ Let’s go 
away and she will go on her nest.” 

So they found another place to step on, and 


164 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


put Lester on the horse with Ethel. After this 
he rode behind Mary and Alice and was pacified. 
He forgot all his troubles and could laugh about 
the fall into the barrel when they told it at 
home. 

After they all had taken several turns Margaret 
got on Tom again and cantered off so easily and 
gracefully that the girls all wondered at it. 
When she came back they cried, “ When did 
you learn to ride ? ” 

“ My father taught me when I was nine years 
old. We had such a nice horse to ride, and I 
dearly love it.” 

“ Why, Margaret, not one of the girls can ride 
as well as you do. I should think you would 
want to ride all the time, and feel bad because 
you can’t.” 

This was a rather thoughtless remark by Ethel ; 
for if Margaret did miss the enjoyments she once 
had and could not now have, she was trying to 
bear the loss bravely and cheerfully. But she 
smiled sweetly and said, 

u I have the memory of it and of my father’s 
kindness to me. I wish you could have known 
him,” and her eyes filled up. 

Then said Alice, 

“ You shall ride on our Tom often if papa can 


AN AFTERNOON FULL OF FUN. 


165 


spare him, and I know Elsie Dayton will let you 
ride on her pony.” 

“ Thank you, Alice. You girls are very kind 
to me.” 

So the long afternoon went by quickly, and at 
five o’clock Mrs. Russell returned. Mary, Ethel 
and Louie walked home. Alice took Margaret, 
little Ruth, and Lester, whose stockings were 
not yet dry, in the phaeton, and brought her 
father and Edgar home to tea. 


CHAPTER XV. 


A FLOWER EXCURSION. 

And thither went the children, 

For there the wild flowers grew ; 

They plucked them up by handfuls, 

With fingers wet with dew. 

And then in pretty baskets, 

With little sprigs of green, 

They placed them, and stole homeward, 

And hoped they were not seen. 

R. H. Stoddard. 

It was near the first of September when Mrs. 
Russell proposed to her class to make a flower 
excursion. They would go out some cool after- 
noon and find every flower in bloom or bud at 
the time in the fields and woods within a few 
miles of the city. The girls all Avere eager to go, 
and asked if they could not take their suppers 
with them. 

Mrs. Russell approved the plan. She said they 
might first drive along the river and look for 
gentians, then cross to the north by a dirt road 
to another gravel road, and look among the hills 


A FLOWER EXCURSION. 


167 


and along the railroad for varieties that did not 
grow on the low grounds. Some of the girls 
wanted to ask the boys to go with them, but 
Mrs. Russell did not favor this. She said there 
would be enough without the boys — as many as 
she cared to look after. She then proposed that 
each girl should select some one of the flowers 
for her own that evening, and wear a bouquet of 
them at supper, and recite a poem about her 
flower. This was not at first agreeable to all the 
girls. Elsie said it would be hard work to 
learn poetry in hot weather. It was like going 
to school in vacation. Bessie thought it would be 
difficult to find poems about the summer flowers. 

Mrs. Russell gave them some hints about the 
kind of flowers they would find, and where to 
look for poetry about them, and sent them down 
to the public library to look over books of 
poetical selections, and some of the American 
authors. The girls became very much interested 
in preparing for this novel entertainment, and 
they had a good many talks among themselves 
about it, while choosing their special flowers 
and selecting the prettiest poems suitable for 
them. 

They called it their High Tea, because they 
were going to have it on a high hill. 


168 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


These girls had a cooking-club among them- 
selves in the winter. They met once in two weeks, 
and had a little supper prepared entirely by the 
girl who entertained the club that evening. So 
now they arranged what each should bring to 
their tea, and agreed to make it all themselves 
except the bread. They planned to go either 
Tuesday or Thursday. W ednesday evening being 
the night of the prayer-meeting at their church, 
Mrs. Russell would not consent to their going on 
that day. Tuesday was hot, so they deferred the 
tea. Thursday came, a bright cool day with a fine 
breeze from the north. Mrs. Russell sent word 
to all to be ready to start that afternoon at one 
o’clock. Before the time came Emily Carroll 
drove up in her dog-cart with her little sorrel 
pony, bringing Lucy Sweet. Rose Gaylord and 
Elsie Dayton came on horseback, both riding 
black ponies. 

Laura Fullerton had her father’s large carriage, 
and had Margaret Marshall, Mary Robinson and 
Bessie Henderson, and her own little brother 
Dave, and Bessie’s little sister Nellie. Mrs. Rus- 
sell was to have her carriage with her driver Mar- 
tin, who was needed to look after so many horses ; 
and she invited Ethel Donahue to ride with her 
and Alice. 


A FLOWER EXCURSION. 


169 


The girls had tried to keep the tea a secret 
from the boys ; but there are few things two 
or three boys cannot find out when they set them- 
selves to it. So it happened that Jack Donahue, 
Sam Dayton and Harry Henderson were waiting 
for the H. T’s, as they called them, and as they 
drove down Main Street, gave them three cheers 
and a tiger. This frightened the ponies a little 
and they shied off to one side of the street ; 
but Rose and Elsie were good riders and kept their 
seats, and in a moment had quieted their steeds, 
and brought them in place again at the head of 
the little procession. 

When they were a mile or more out of town, 
they came to a low meadow bordering on the 
river. Mrs. Russell called out to the girls to 
stop and look out over the meadow for the blue- 
fringed gentians. They were afraid to enter it, 
however, for rattlesnakes were sometimes found in 
these low places. But Martin said, 

u I am not afraid of thim, for me boots are 
thick, and it’s many a wan I’ve killed, ma’am.” 

“ But not in Ireland, Martin.” 

“ No, ma’am, for there’s niver a snake in the 
ould counthry.” 

So saying Martin climbed over the fence and 
started carefully through the meadow, and was 


170 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS . 


soon seen gathering large bunches of lovely 
gentians. Meantime Ethel jumped out of the 
carriage and stood on one of the boards of the 
fence. She said, 

“ I do not believe there are any snakes in that 
field, and I am going to pull the bunch of beau- 
ties by that bush.” 

“ No, Ethel,” said Mrs. Russell, “ leave it for 
Martin.” 

But Ethel did not hear her, or, if she heard, paid 
no attention to her warning. She jumped to the 
ground, and ran a short distance into the field. 
She had gathered one cluster and was just reach- 
ing down to another, when the queerest rattling 
noise she ever heard in her life sounded just 
behind her. She did not stop to look but ran to 
the fence, screaming at the top of her voice. 
She was so frightened when she got there that 
she had hardly strength to stand. Mrs. Russell, 
who was standing on the fence (how she ever got 
there in time she never knew), helped to pull her 
up out of danger. 

Martin heard the screaming, and seeing what 
was the matter hurried to them at once. Dis- 
covering the rattler near the edge of the meadow, 
he jumped on it with both his big heavy feet 
again and again, for he meant to kill that snake 


A FLOWER EXCURSION. 


171 


once for all, and that the first time. In fact it 
was flattened out as if it had been hammered 
on an anvil. Martin asked the girls if they 
wanted to see it, but they all cried, 

“ No ! don’t bring the ugly thing here.” 

Mrs. Russell said that as they were so fright- 
ened he would better not show it. So he cut 
off the rattles, of which there were nine, and the 
button on the end of the tail, showing it was a 
veteran. One of the handsome bay horses in Mrs. 
Russell’s carriage was excited by the screaming 
of the girls and became quite restless. Martin 
had to quiet it. Then as Elsie Dayton’s pony 
stepped near the horse, it laid its ears back and 
was about to bite the pony. Martin made it 
move back and said, 

u Miss Elsie, will you plaze kape your bit av a 
pony away from Garge. He is sure to bite it. 
Last Thorsday I was plowin’ with the two av 
thim, and Garge kipt bitin’ Tom, and I could do 
nothing with them at all, and I had to hitch him 
loose.” 

This funny speech raised a laugh, and helped 
the girls to get over their scare. 

Then Martin gathered up the gentians he had 
dropped, and was glad to get away from that 
meadow. The girls all looked pretty white, and 


172 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


Mrs. Russell was sorry their excursion had such 
an unfortunate beginning. They all knew it was 
Ethel’s fault : she should not have been so rash. 
But they were thankful that she had not been 
hurt. 

After they had gone up the river a mile further 
they came to a place where the stream was wide 
and shallow. Here were a good many arrow- 
heads growing. They stopped and pulled a few 
near the bank, but most of them were too far out 
in the water to reach. The white, wax-like flowers 
were so lovely that all wanted some but how to 
get them was a hard question. 

Rose guided her pony carefully down the bank 
and then rode into the water and reaching down 
pulled them up until she had enough for all. 

In the meantime the other girls had been 
gathering wild sunflowers and black-eyed Susans. 
Laura called the latter, Rebeccas. 

“ Why do you call them that ? ” asked Elsie. 

“ It is their name, just as Marguerites is the 
name of the white daisies.” 

“ Let us ask Mrs. Russell.” 

Mrs. Russell was very much pleased when the 
girls came to her with this question. She told 
them that both were common names. Then she 
talked with them a little about the great family 


A FLOWER EXCURSION. 


173 


of Composite to which all the daisies belong. 
Elsie asked why they did not find the oxeye 
daisy in Ohio, which was so common in New 
York and New England. 

Laura said she thought it was an English 
plant. Rose said, “ It is coming here ; for my 
father has found it along the railroads.” 

“I am very glad, for it is such a beautiful 
flower, ’’said Elsie. 

“ The farmers will not share your enthusiasm,” 
said Emily. “ It is only a weed, they think, 
and a great nuisance in the meadows.* It is 
called the white weed in many places.” 

Mrs. Russell asked them if they knew how 
the word daisy originated, and what it meant, 
and what a beautiful picture it contained, like so 
many other common expressions we use without 
noticing their rich meaning. 

No one could answer this question at first. 
Then Margaret said, 

“ I remember I have read somewhere that 
it is day’s eye corrupted in to daisy. Is that 
right ? ” 

“ Yes ; and what is the eye of day ? ” 

“ Why, the sun,” said Laura. 

“ Oh, I see,” cried Emily. “ The flower with 
its golden center was like the sun, and the white 


174 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


petals are the rays of light. What a pretty 
thought it is. Are there many such gems in the 
common language we use ? ” 

“ Yes/’ said Mrs. Russell, “ for two reasons : 
one is, that most of our words are first derived 
from material objects and afterwards acquire 
other meanings and become significant of ideas ; 
and another reason is that the earlier and ruder 
form of a language is more poetical. 

“ Why do they call daisies, Marguerites ? ” 
asked Elsie. 

u I cannot answer that ; can any of you, girls ? ” 
As no one replied, Mrs. Russell continued : 
u Marguerite is the French form of Margaret. 
It means a pearl. The name may have been given 
to the flower because of its white rays — the pearl 
flower. But they are more of a cream white than 
pearl tint. I will give you a little theory of my 
own about this name. When you are older you 
will read Faust, the great work of Goethe. 
You could not begin to understand it now. In 
it there is a scene in which Margaret pulls a 
daisy to pieces, repeating the old childish enigma, 
“ He loves me, he loves me not.” I have thought 
it possible that Margaret’s name has been attached 
to the flower from that scene. It is like the Ger- 
mans to give a name to a blossom in that way.” 


A FLOWER EXCURSION. 


175 


The girls were so loyal to Mrs. Russell that 
they thought this was a delightful theory and 
adopted it at once. 

“ To come back to these yellow^ daisies, I must 
tell you that the botanical name is Rudbekia 
Hirta, in honor of Rudbek, the Swedish botanist, 
and Rebecca is plainly a corruption of Rudbe- 
kia.” 

“ Why so it is/’ said Laura, “ and Rebecca is 
the right name, Elsie. I won’t let you call them 
black-eyed Susans again.” 

“Very well,” said Elsie, “ only I think Susan 
was a black-eyed beauty with blond hair.” 

“ Or a yellow sunbonnet,” said Rose, “ and the 
young men called the flower after her ” 

“ Oh horrors ! What a picture after all the 
pretty ones Mrs. Russell has given us,” said 
Emily. 

“ Let us go on to the hills,” said Mrs. Russell. 

So they all gathered up their clusters of blos- 
soms and prepared to ride forward. 

When they left the low lands behind them they 
all felt in better spirits. Soon they came to the 
cross road and turned away from the river. Wind- 
ing between low spurs they gradually climbed 
to the top of a high ridge that overlooked not 
only the fertile valley below but also the rolling 


176 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


lands beyond it. Here were very rich and highly 
cultivated farms and the flowers could be found 
only in the fence corners and along the road- 
sides, and in the occasional pieces of woodland 
that had been left uncut or had grown up again. 
Here and there in the “ forest primeval ” were 
giant white and burr oaks nearly one hundred 
feet in height and from three to five feet in 
diameter at the base. One burr oak log lay 
rotting on the ground, too unwieldy to handle 
when it was cut. The girls standing beside it 
could not look over it. They called Mrs. Russell 
to see it, and the top of the log was just at the 
level of her eyes. She counted the rings at the 
end and made out more than one hundred and 
fifty, so they knew the tree was more than a cen- 
tury and a half old. Some of the girls were afraid 
to enter these woodlands, which were all used for 
pasture, but they called to each other and screamed 
so loud that the gentle cows were more frightened 
than they were. 

Golden-rod was abundant but just changing 
from green to gold. There were many clumps of 
asters of several varieties. There were those 
which have a royal look when covered with large 
purple flowers. Others of a lavender color, and 
a kind which bears many small white stars on 


A FLOWER EXCURSION. 


177 


long branches. But none of them were in bloom 
for it was too soon for asters, which come out 
early in October in this region. 

Emily found a tall plant, the stalk of which was 
covered with buds near the top and lower down 
with a pea-like blossom. None of them knew 
what it was and Mrs. Russell said she had never 
before seen it. 

By the roadside and in the stubble of the 
wheat fields were many plants of the common 
milkweed, and here and there the very gay 
member of that family, called the butterfly weed, 
a low bush covered with bright orange-colored 
blossoms. There were also some tall plants with 
small white flowers on wide spreading branches. 
Elsie thought they were white forget-me-nots. 
Some of the girls who got their fingers sticky 
with white juice that flowed from the broken 
ends of the branches, said they also were milk 
weeds. But Mrs. Russell said they were a kind 
of Euphorbia. 

Alice was determined to have the most complete 
collection of all the kinds of flowers, and she 
often stopped the. carriage and gathered some she 
thought were different from those she already had ; 
but except the evening primrose and another kind 
of sunflower and a blue flower called self-heal, 
12 


178 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


she did not find any new varieties. There was 
plenty of iron weed and dog-fennel sorrel, and 
ground cherries, hut none of the girls would add 
such weeds to their bouquets. Mrs. Russell asked 
them if they knew what a weed was. Emily 
laughingly answered, “ It is a plant that is 
neither useful nor beautiful, and always grows 
where it is not wanted.” After a while they 
came to the railroad and followed along near it, 
until they reached a great cut through which it 
climbed the hill. Mrs. Russell told them all to 
get out here, and search carefully for ferns, some 
of which she wished to take home with her to 
plant. 


CHAPTER XYI. 


THE SUPPER. 

Around this lovely valley rise 
The purple hills of paradise. 

O softly on yon banks of haze 
Her rosy face the summer lays. 

Sweet woodland music sinks and swells, 

The brooklet rings its tinkling bells, 

The swarming insects drone and hum, 

The partridge beats his throbbing drum, 

The squirrel leaps among the boughs 
And chatters in his leafy house. 

J. T. Trowbridge. 


The railroad cut was a wild, lonely, picturesque 
spot. It was very deep, and the sides were steep, 
almost like frowning precipices. 

It was dark and cool as the girls sauntered along, 
hunting for maiden-hair ferns among the rocks. 
Far above their heads was a bridge, where the 
road crossed the track, and on one side was a 
rushing stream of water, flowing over a rocky bed. 
Here in a dark hole, where the sun could hardly 

shine at any hour of the day, Lucy Sweet found 

179 


180 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


some late white violets, and Rose Gaylord dis- 
covered some very late wild roses on a small stunted 
bush. They were very much delighted as will be 
seen later on. 

The girls spent nearly an hour in the cut and 
on the hills around it. On the other side of the 
hill they saw a large pond. As some of the girls 
came down they spied Laura Fullerton and Mar- 
garet Marshall out in a boat in the middle of the 
pond. They all rushed down to the edge of the 
water and called, “ Come back and take us in.” 

Laura said, “Wait until we get our lilies.” 
Then looking to the other side they saw the water 
covered with waterlilies. Rose and Lucy started 
to walk around, but got into a swampy place and 
had to come back, with their russet shoes covered 
with black mud ; but they felt repaid for their 
trouble, for they had their hands full of the flame- 
like cardinal flowers. 

When the boat came in the girls had great 
bunches of lilies. 

“ You were real selfish, not to let us know,” said 
Ethel. “ I suppose you have gathered them all.” 

“ Oh, no,” said Laura, “ we have brought some 
to give away. You can’t all go at once, but there 
are plenty of lilies. If three of you will go out 
you can get enough, with these, for every one.” 


THE SUPPER. 


181 


By this time it was long after four o’clock, and 
Mrs. Russell had said five o’clock would be the 
hour for tea. So Laura said they would all go 
back to the hill-top, where Mrs. Russell was, all 
except the three girls who wanted to get the 
lilies. At first each of the girls wanted a row on 
the water, but Alice and Rose gave way and 
then the others, and it was decided that Emily, 
Lucy and Bessie should take the boat. 

Rose Gaylord had brought her camera with her; 
that is, she gave it to Laura to bring in her car- 
riage. When Martin was stamping on the rattle- 
snake, she had taken it out and was holding it in 
her hands. So she pressed the button and had a 
very good picture of that exciting scene. 

She had taken some very pretty views at several 
places along the river, and now had one of the 
railroad cut. She wanted to photograph a wild 
clump of brambles, hazels, golden-rod, etc., in a 
corner of a rail-fence on the side of the hill. She 
asked Elsie to go with her to take the picture. 
The sun was under a cloud for a few moments. 
Elsie said: 

“ Wait till it shines out again and it will light 
up the depths of that wild corner and give a 
beautiful effect to those branches of golden-rod 
hanging against the mass of blackberry bushes.” 


182 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


She also took a picture of the supper-party, 
when all the girls were seated on the ground in 
a circle, ready to eat. Little Dave and Nellie 
took a great interest in this photograph. They 
wanted to sit where a good picture would be 
taken of their own little selves. So Mrs. Russell 
went around and arranged the grouping in a 
simple, natural way, that would make a beauti- 
ful picture. The camera was placed on a stump 
which dame Nature and the wood-choppers had 
left in just the right place. Rose took her seat 
after everything was made ready, and then 
Martin pressed the button. 

When they got home that night Davie was 
telling his father about it. 

“ But who took the pictures ? I don’t under- 
stand,” said Mrs. Fullerton. 

“ Rose and Martin took the picture, but Mrs. 
Russell was the architect,” said Davie. 

They had decided that they would have their 
supper on the top of a hill near the upper end of 
the railroad cut, where there were some large oak 
and hickory trees. Here they sat down to rest, 
while Martin gathered leaves and sticks, and 
started a fire. They intended to have coffee, and 
Martin was sent to a neighboring farm house 
with a bucket to bring water, and when he re- 


THE SUPPER . 


183 


turned with it, he built up a rough stove out of 
stones and set the coffee-pot on it over the blaze. 
The girls thought he was very handy. 

While the girls were setting the table Davie 
and Nellie were hunting bears, as they said ; but 
instead of bears they found an old pear tree, and 
on the ground a number of small acrid pears blown 
down by the wind. They looked very tempting 
to the children who began to pick them up and 
taste them. Oh ! how bitter they were ! The 
children’s mouths were puckered. Nellie was so 
disappointed she began to cry. Davie said, 

“ Let’s take a lot to Laura and Bessie and 
they will eat them and get all puckered too.” 

So they filled their pockets, and Davie’s little 
pockets stood out from his tight trousers like 
handles on a jug. They ran over the hill to 
meet the girls. Emily said : 

“ Oh, look at Davie. Doesn’t he look comical. 
What have you got in your pockets, Davie ? ” 

“Oh! somethin’ mighty good. Don’t you 
want to kiss me?” 

“ I thought you did not like to kiss the girls 
any more.” 

“ It will be easy now,” said Davie. “ I won’t 
have to pucker my mouth up. It is all puckered 
up already.” 


184 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


“ What have you found, persimmons ?” 

“ No ; pears/’ said Nellie. 

And they gave them all some to taste. 

“ Oh ! oh ! aren’t they puckery ? ” said the 
girls as they threw them down. 

“ But they taste good. I like them,” said Emily. 
u They have some spice in them,” and she went 
on tasting, till, as she said, her mouth was so 
drawn up it would take a day to get it straight 
again. 

This supper was not very different from many 
other picnic suppers except that the girls had 
prepared nearly all the food themselves. And if 
any one wishes to know some of the nice things 
they had, a list will be found here, and those who 
are not interested may turn over a few leaves to 
the next chapter. 

When Alice opened her basket and showed a 
dozen nice buttered rolls, Rose said, 

“ Alice, did you make those all by yourself ? ” 

u I did all the work, but mamma showed me 
how. If she hadn’t I am afraid they wouldn’t 
have looked as nice as they do.” 

“ You might have left out the baking-powder 
as you once did,” said Emily. 

“ I hoped you girls had forgotten that. Please 
do ; won’t you ? ” said Alice. 


THE SUPPER. 


185 


Alice had also some nice little sponge cakes 
with frosted tops. 

Ethel felt quite proud of her cake as she 
lifted it out and the girls cried, 

u Oh ! oh ! ” “ How nice ! ” “ How beauti- 

ful” 

It was a large layer-cake with caramel filling. 

“ What sweet little pickles,” said Lucy ; “ I 
would like one right now.” 

“ Well, you must wait,” said Ethel as she put 
a jar of them on the cloth. 

Emily Carroll was fond of sweet things, she 
said. 

Elsie peeped into her basket : “ Girls, she has 
not brought anything but jam and jelly.” 

“ Yes, I have a little bread to spread the jam 
on,” said Emily, taking out at the same time 
some delicate raspberry jam and crab-apple 

jeUy- 

“ What did you bring, Margaret ? ” 

“ I have something you never tasted, I guess.” 

“ Oh, what can it be ? ” said Ethel. 

The girls watched her with eager curiosity as 
she opened her basket. 

“ What are they ? ” asked several at once. 

“ Scones, Scotch scones,” said Margaret. 

“ How do you make them,” asked Laura. 


186 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


And Margaret had to tell them all how they 
were made. 

“ I am sure Mary has something very nice,” 
said Bessie. 

“ Nothing extra,” said Mary, as she handed 
out some Saratoga potatoes and a large bag of 
nuts. “ Mamma was too sick to help me, and 
so I only made some of my potatoes.” 

“ We know how good they are,” said Alice. 

Rose Gaylord and Elsie Dayton having come 
on horseback had their provisions together in a 
basket which Mrs. Russell brought in her car- 
riage. It contained nothing, however, but cream 
and chocolate candies which they had made. 

Ethel said, “ I have some candy too, some rose- 
almonds,” and she brought out a large paper 
bag ; but when she opened it, it was full of gravel 
stones. Ethel was so astonished she could not 
say anything at first. Some of the girls giggled. 
Then Ethel said, “How mean ! I just know that 
Jack did that — he and Sam Dayton. They were 
on the porch when I was packing my basket, and 
I had to go upstairs for a few minutes. I heard 
them snickering when I came down and I knew 
they were up to some mischief.” 

“ Yes,” said Alice ; “ and that is what they 
meant when they called out “ Rose, Rose ” as we 


THE SUPPER . 


187 


were coming down the street. I thought they 
were calling to Rose on her pony.” 

But Lucy Sweet took the boys’ part, and so 
did Bessie. They said they were “ generally very 
good.” The other girls said they would pay the 
boys up some day so they would not want any 
more rose almonds. 

The girls all crowded around Bessie Hender- 
son when she took up her basket, for they were 
expecting something very nice from her. Ethel’s 
success with her cake was rather eclipsed when 
Bessie carefully lifted out a large marsh-mallow 
cake. 

“ We will all want some of that, Bessie,” said 
Lucy, “ for we know what delicious cake you 
make.” 

“ I don’t see how you do it,” said Elsie. “ I 
would rather eat cake than make it.” 

“ I guess we all would,” said Emily. 

Laura Fullerton brought a large basket with 
buttered rolls, ground coffee, sugar, and some 
thin slices of very nice bread. She said, “ I 
have brought mostly bread, for I thought you 
would all have more cake than bread.” 

“ I did not bring a crumb of cake,” said Lucy, 
as she took out some ham sandwiches and 
French pickles. 


188 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


ic What a remarkable set of girls we are ; I 
actually believe we have more bread than cake/’ 
said Laura. 

“ Because we did not have to make the bread/’ 
said Emily. 

“ I think we will eat it all if you are as hungry 
as I am, after running around so much/’ said 
Lucy. 

“I’se hungry — hungry as a bear/’ said little 
Nellie Henderson. 

“ Oh, you sweet little thing,” said Elsie, as she 
threw her arms around Nellie, and danced her 
over the grass. “ You are the cutest little bear 
that ever stood on two feet.” 

The girls would not let Mrs. Russell do any- 
thing, but told her to sit down and talk to Mar- 
garet and Elsie. But when the table had been 
set and the supper was all ready Mrs. Russell 
went to the carriage and brought a covered 
basket. 

“ Oh, Mrs. Russell,” said Mary, 66 you were not 
to bring anything.” 

“I want to decorate the table,” she replied, 
piling up several large red peaches on each 
corner. The supper now being ready they sat 
down. 

The two little children were sitting together on 


THE SUPPER. 


189 


a log. When Rose took them some of the cara- 
mel cake, Davie said, “ This is the goodest 
kind of cake ; Lizzie made some but it got 
burned.” 

Rose repeated this remark, and Ethel said she 
thought it was quite a compliment. 


CHAPTER XVII. 

THE RECITATIONS. 

We are the sweet flowers, 

Born of sunny showers, 

(Think whene’er you see us, what our beauty saith) ; 
Utterance, mute and bright, 

Of some unknown delight, 

We fill the air with pleasure by our simple breath ; 

All who see us love us — 

We befit all places ; 

Unto sorrow we give smiles — and unto graces, graces. 

Leigh Hunt. 

The girls had a very pleasant time at supper. 
When it was over Mrs. Russell said, 

“ You are each wearing a bouquet as I sug- 
gested, and I suppose each particular flower rep- 
resents your choice for this evening. Now, if 
you are ready, we will have the better part of the 
feast. W e will he like the bees — we will sip honey 
from every flower. As an introduction to this 
intellectual repast, I will repeat a sonnet I read 
not long ago in ‘ Between the Lights.’ It is by 

Mrs. A. C. L. Botta, and is called 
190 


THE RECITATIONS , 


191 


“ ‘ HIDDEN SWEETS.’ 

“ * The honey-bee that wanders all day long 

The field, the woodland, and the garden o’er 
To gather in his fragrant winter store, 

Humming in calm content his quiet song, 

Seeks not alone the rose’s glowing breast, 

The lily’s dainty cup, the violet’s lips, 

But from all rank and noxious weeds he sips 
The single drop of sweetness closely pressed 
Within the poison chalice. Thus if we 
Seek only to draw forth the hidden sweet 
In all the varied human flowers we meet, 

In all the wide garden of humanity, 

And, like the bee, if home the spoil we bear, 

Hived in our hearts it turns to nectar there.’ 

Now, Emily, let us see what our bee can extract 
from your golden-rod.” 

Emily Carroll rose and said, 

“ I chose the golden-rod for its brightness, 
adorning so many dusty roads and lanes. Many 
people think it should be our national flower. 
The poem I have selected is 

“ ‘THE GOLDEN-ROD,’ 

BY MRS. JULIA DORR. 

“ ‘ Let us go forth and gather golden-rod ! 

Oh, love my love, see how upon the hills, 

Where still the warm air palpitates and thrills, 

And earth lies breathless in the smile of God, 

Like plumes of serried hosts, its tassels nod ! 

All the green vales its golden glory fills ; 

By lonely waysides and by mountain rills 


192 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS . 


Its yellow banners flaunt above the sod. 

Perhaps the apple-blossoms were more fair ; 

Perhaps, dear heart, the roses were more sweet — 

June’s dewy roses, with their buds half-blown ; 

Yet what care we, while tremulous and rare 

This golden sunshine falleth at our feet, 

And song lives on, though summer birds have flown ? ’ ” 

u Golden-rod is a true American flower. I 
believe it is found nowhere else,” said Mrs. Russell. 
“ That is the reason so many have favored its 
selection as our national flower. You know Mrs. 
Harrison had one of her dresses embroidered with 
it, and wore it at the inaugural of President Harri- 
son. Your selection gives a very true descrip- 
tion, Emily. It is pervaded by the languor and 
warmth of an August day. I am glad you 
have become acquainted with Mrs. Dorr’s poems ; 
you will find many more of them that touch 
the heart.” 

“ I see Ethel is wearing the gentians which cost 
her so much trouble.” 

“ I wanted to gather my own flowers ; that is 
the reason I ventured in that field,” said Ethel. 

“ They were like the golden apples of Hesper- 
ides, guarded by a dragon,” said Laura. 

“ Now, Ethel, let us hear your poem.” 

“ There was a lovely one by Bryant that papa 
liked, but I found one in my St. Nicholas, by 


THE EE CITATIONS. 


193 


Whittier, which I thought was much prettier, and 
I will repeat it. 

“ ‘ THE PRESSED GENTIAN.’ 

“ ‘ The time of gifts has come again, 

And on my northern window pane 
Outlined against the day’s brief light, 

A Christmas token hangs in sight. 

The wayside travelers, as they pass, 

Mark the gray disk of clouded glass ; 

And the dull blankness seems, perchance, 

Folly to their wise ignorance. 

“ ‘ They cannot from their outlook see 
The perfect grace it has for me ; 

For there the flower, whose fringes through 
The frosty breath of autumn blew, 

Turns from without its face of bloom, 

To the warm tropic of my room, 

As fair as when beside the brook, 

The hue of bending skies it took. 

“ ‘ So, from the trodden ways of earth, 

Seem some sweet souls who veil their worth, 

And offer to the careless glance 
The clouding gray of circumstance. 

They blossom best where hearth-fires burn : 

To loving eyes alone they turn 

The flowers of inward grace, that hide 

Their beauty from the world outside. 

“ ‘ But deeper meanings come to me, 

My half -immortal flower, from thee ! 

Man judges from a partial view ; 

None ever yet his brother knew : 


13 


194 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


The Eternal Eye, that sees the whole, 

May better read the darkened soul, 

And find, to outward sense denied, 

The flower upon its inmost side ! ’ ” 

As Ethel repeated these verses, Mrs. Russell 
saw that their meaning was beyond some of the 
girls. But Ethel was too absorbed to notice it ; 
her fair face was alive with emotion, and her 
voice took on a deeper tone as she came to the 
closing lines. Mrs. Russell felt that the child’s 
soul was awakening at last. With a look of deep 
sympathy she said, 

u I am delighted with your selection, Ethel. 
That poem, by one of our greatest American 
poets is very beautiful, and the lessons it teaches 
are indeed important. Now Elsie it is your turn.” 

“ The flowers I am wearing are pretty if they 
are a common weed,” said Elsie. 

u Is it the euphorbia ? ” 

“ Yes, Mrs. Russell. I was so disappointed, for 
I thought I had found a white forget-me-not. 
They are just the size and appearance of the blue 
forget-me-nots I found by a brookside in New 
York last summer. The prettiest poem I found 
was about them and I learned it, hoping I could 
get some of the flowers.” 

“ They do not grow in this neighborhood. 
But we will be glad to hear the poem.” 


THE RECITATIONS. 


195 


Then Elsie repeated, 

u ‘ FORGET ME NOT.’ 

“ ‘ When to the flowers so beautiful 
The Father gave a name, 

Back came a little blue-eyed one, 

(All timidly it came) 

And standing at its Father’s feet, 

And gazing in his face, 

It said in low and trembling tones : 

“ Dear God, the name thou gavest me, 

Alas ! I have forgot,” 

Kindly the Father looked him down 
And said, “ Forget-me-not.” ’ ” 

The girls all thought this was beautiful and 
wanted to know of Elsie where she found it. 

She said : 

“ In 6 Treasures New and Old/ arranged by 
Miss Alice Williams. The book is in the library. 
The author’s name is not given.” 

Emily said : 

“ I think one reason why you chose that was 
because it was not very long. Wasn’t it, now? ” 

The girls smiled and Elsie admitted that she 
had considered that. 

Lucy said : 

66 1 have read of another origin of the name, 
Forget-me-not. The story is that a knight and 
his lady-love were strolling along by the river 
Danube. The lady saw some of the blue flowers 


196 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


growing on the other hank and wished she had 
them. There was no boat to be seen. The 
knight gallantly plunged into the river, swam 
across and gathered the flowers. As he was re- 
turning his strength gave out in the strong 
current and he began to sink. He threw the 
flowers, at her feet and as he sank he cried out, 
‘ Forget-me-not.’ ” 

“ That is quite a story, Lucy,” said Elsie, “ but 
I think mine is the prettiest.” 

“ And so do I, Elsie,” said Mrs. Russell. “ I 
hope you will all remember these lines whenever 
you see the flowers. Margaret, will you tell us 
why you are wearing a bouquet of thistles ? ” 

“ I thought donkeys were the only ones that 
liked thistles,” said Lucy. 

“Well our Margaret is not a donkey,” said 
Emily. 

“ No, indeed,” cried the rest. 

“ W ell I will tell you why I chose thistles. 
Perhaps you do not all know that my father was 
a Scotchman. He was born near Bannockburn 
where the Scotch under Robert Bruce won a 
great victory over the English, five hundred years 
ago, and gained their independence. He lived 
there till he was ten years old and then came to 
this country. So I am partly a Scotch girl. 


THE RECITATIONS. 


197 


“ The thistle is the national emblem of Scot- 
land, as the rose is of England, the shamrock or 
trefoil of Ireland, and the lily or iris of France. 
Many, many years ago, when the Danes had made 
their settlements in England, they invaded Scot- 
land. The Scotch had fortified their camp and 
had posted their sentinels to guard it. One dark 
night the Danes made an attempt to surprise the 
Scotch and capture their camp. They had some 
spies who were guiding them to a weak place in 
the wall. All the Scotch were asleep except the 
sentinels, and they may have been careless. The 
enemy had come very near unobserved, when 
one of the spies, walking barefoot to make no 
noise, stepped on a thistle. The pain was so 
great and unexpected that he uttered some loud 
cry or exclamation, perhaps an oath. The sound 
was carried far in the silence of the night. The 
guards heard it and started up, and gave the 
alarm. The camp was aroused and all the Scotch 
called to arms. The cry of ‘ The Danes ! The 
Danes ! ’ rang through the camp, and every soldier 
hurried to grasp his claymore, and ran to meet 
the foe. The Danes were driven off and they 
never conquered Scotland. 

“ When the Scotch found out what had saved 
them they adopted the thistle as a badge, and 


198 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


embroidered it on their banners, and after a time it 
was adopted as the national emblem. All Scotch 
people love the thistle. I have seen it used as 
an ornament in the arch under mantels and in 
other ways.” 

Margaret told her story with much spirit, and 
as it was new to the girls they all were greatly 
interested. 

Emily said, 

“ Margaret, you have a good deal of pride in 
your Scotch blood, I think. If you wore the 
Scotch dress, you would be a bonnie lassie of 
Edinburgh or a fair maid of Perth.” 

“ Oh, listen to Emily ! ” cried some of the girls. 
u Does she know anything about it, Margaret ? ” 

“ Bannockburn is in Stirling, and it is nearer 
to Perth than Edinburgh. I think Emily has 
been reading some of Walter Scott’s stories.” 

“ Or playing authors,” said Lucy. 

“ Indeed I have been reading Scott. And I 
think the Bride of Lammermoor, and the Talisman, 
and Ivanhoe, are lovely books,” Emily replied 
with quite an air of injury. 

But Mrs. Russell pacified her by saying, “ I 
wish all the girls would read them. Now, Rose, 
I suppose you do not think ‘ a rose by any other 
name would smell as sweet.’ ” 


THE EE CITATIONS. 


199 


u No, indeed, it would not. I love roses and I 
was very glad to find these to-day, for of course I 
had chosen a poem about them. But I hardly ex- 
pected to find the wildrose so late in the season. 
There are a good many poems about the rose, 
for it is the queen of all the flowers. It was not 
easy to select one.” 

“ Can you tell us about some of them ?” 

“ I am afraid I have forgotten. There was 
one by Edmund Waller who lived in the time of 
Charles I.” 

“And whenever was that?” asked Emily 
with a tone of mischief in her voice, that made 
all the girls look up. 

“We all know you have studied English his- 
tory, Emily ; you do not need to remind us,” said 
Laura. 

“ Never mind, Laura ; I can tell,” said Rose. 
“ Waller died two hundred years ago. He went 
to school at Eton — and was in Parliament when 
he was eighteen.” 

“ Did you learn his poem ? ” 

{t No, Mrs. Russell. Papa thought I would 
find others more suitable. There was a beauti- 
ful one by Dr. Powers, but it was too long to 
learn — I left it for Laura — and another by 
Lowell.” 


200 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


u Thank you, Rose. How generous you are 
with your hard tasks ! Did you look at the Garden 
Song of Tennyson, that Lizzie sang for you?” 

“ Yes, but there was too much about love in it. 
I think lie is very sentimental.” 

Laura looked at Mrs. Russell, and they smiled 
at the superior tone of this remark. 

“ I don’t believe she learned any verses at all,” 
said Ethel. 

“ Yes, I did ; but I do not know the author’s 
name. The poem is called 

“ ‘ THE SECRET.’ 

“ ‘ Ah, dainty, dainty rose ! 

How did you come to be 
The sweet and precious thing 
That here to-day I see ? 

“ ‘ Ah, sweet and passionate rose ! 

Thy secret now impart : 

I listen and I wait 
Above thy fragrant heart. 

“ ‘ Ah, pure and perfect rose, 

Glowing and yet serene ; 

I crave the balanced joy. 

What does thy beauty mean ? 

“ ‘ A little tender stir 

I heard as in a dream : 

“We roses wait God’s time, 

However long it seem. 


THE RECITATIONS. 


201 


“ 1 “ Where he hath planted us 
We grow as he doth will : 

And show our love for him 
By simply standing still. 

“ 1 “ And so he giveth us 

Color and form and grace : 

And sudden, unaware, 

We glorify the place.” ’ ” 

u That is a beautiful poem, Rose. I do not 
think you could have made a better selection out 
of all the wealth of English and American poetry 
about roses. Now, Alice, let us hear from you.” 

u Ferns are not flowers, but we all love them 
as much as we do flowers. My poem is about 
them. I could not find the name of the author : 

“ ‘ Ferns, beautiful ferns, 

By the side of the running waters, 

Lovely and sweet and fresh 
As the fairest of earth-born daughters. 

Under the dreary shade 

Of the forest’s mighty branches, 

Curving their graceful shapes 
To the playful wind’s advances. 

“ 4 Ferns, delicate ferns. 

Neighbors of emerald mosses. 

Having no thought or care 
For worldly attainments or losses. 

Children of shadow serene, 

Fresh at the heart through the summer, 

Over the cool springs they lean 

Where the sunbeam is rarely a comer. 



202 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


“ ‘ Ferns, feathery ferns. 

Delicate, slender and frail ; 

Nursed by the streamlet, whose song 
Is music for hillside and vale. 

Purity, modesty, grace, 

Emblems of these to the mind ; 

Loving the quietest place 

That ever a sunbeam will find.’ ” 

cc I would like to have all my girls resemble 
the ferns/’ said Mrs. Russell ; “ not to be 6 delicate, 
slender and frail/ but to have their 6 purity, mod- 
esty and grace.’ There are a good many lessons 
in the flowers are there not, girls? Now, Lucy, 
tell us what you have found.” 

u I found a treasure in these violets. There are 
several varieties, though we do not often find 
any but the common blue kind about here. 
These are the white summer violets. I had 
chosen Mrs. Whitney’s poem, because it is so beau- 
tiful; and mamma thought I might find some 
of the flowers among these hills, as she had 
gathered them here when she was a girl.” Lucy 
then in a sweet voice repeated, 

“‘VIOLETS.’ 

“ * God does not send us strange flowers every year ; 

When the spring winds blow o’er the pleasant places, 
The same dear things lift up the same fair faces, — 

The violet is here. 


THE RECITATIONS. 


203 


“ 4 It all comes back, — the odor, grace and hue, 

Each sweet relation of its life repeated ; 

Nothing is lost, no looking-for is cheated ; 

It is the thing we knew. 

44 4 So after the death- winter it will be ; 

God will not put strange sights in heavenly places ; 

The old love will look out from the old faces ; 

Veilchen, I shall have thee.’ ” 

u That is one of my favorites, Lucy.” 

“ I thought you would know it, Mrs. Russell.” 

“ I hope you girls will all read Mrs. Whitney’s 
books, when you are a little older. You will like 
them.” 

“ I have read one of them,” said Margaret. 

“ Which one, my dear?” 

“ Faith Gartney’s Girlhood.” 

“ That is one of her earliest books, and I 
remember how I enjoyed it when I was a 
girl.” 

At this moment Nellie created a little stir by 
rising and running about, for she was tired of 
sitting still so long. But Laura called, “ Nellie 
come stand by me a few minutes.” 

Putting her arms around Nellie, she said, 

“ Papa showed me two short verses from 
Heine which are very pretty. Shall I repeat 
them ? ” 

u Yes ; go on,” said the girls. 


204 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS, 


“ ‘ Ah ! like a blossom, lovely 

And pure, and sweet thou art ! 

Yet as I gaze upon thee 
A sadness fills my heart. 

I fain would touch thy tresses, 

And prayerfully entreat, 

That God would ever keep thee 
As lovely, pure, and sweet.’ ” 

The girls all clapped their hands at this object 
lesson, for little Nellie was the loveliest flower of 
them all. Then Mrs. Russell proposed a short in- 
termission for relaxation after sitting so long. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 


CONSIDER THE LILIES. 

Fair lilies, gentle teachers, 

Evangelists of love, 

The word that bids me heed your voice 
Is spoken from above ; 

Ye are the gracious gift of Him 
In whom our spirits move. 

Margaret E. Sangster. 

After walking about and talking a few min- 
utes the girls settled down again. 

“ I suppose Laura does not want to be excused 
with so short a poem ? ” suggested Mrs. Russell. 

The girls smiled, for Laura liked to give reci- 
tations. 

“ I can do more if you wish/’ she replied. 

“ What are you wearing, Laura ? ” 

“ I had hoped to find asters, but it is too early 
for them. I have some of the buds, and these 
evening primroses.” 

u If you will all learn the secret of the prim- 
rose you will learn a good lesson in human life,” 

205 


206 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


said Mrs. Russell. “ Many people pass it by and 
never perceive its worth and beauty.” 

“ Like Peter Bell,” said Laura. 

“ Can you repeat Wordsworth’s lines, Laura ? ” 


“ ‘ A primrose by the river’s brim 
A yellow primrose was to him, 

And it was nothing more.’ ” 

“ Thank you. To those who look for the 
primrose its beauty comes as a lovely surprise. 
For a longtime the plant is tall and ungainly and 
rough-looking. Then it bursts out into a flower 
that is like the jasmine in its loveliness and fra- 
grance.” 

“ That is very much like the passage I thought 
of reciting about asters” said Laura. 

“ Let us have it, Laura. I hope I have not 
6 stolen your thunder.’ ” 

“ Oh, no. This is something from Beecher’s 
Life of Christ. Papa read it to me. 

“ Mr. Beecher had been describing the presenta- 
tion in the temple, and Simeon’s beautiful prayer 
as he took the infant J esus in his arms — ‘ Lord, 
now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for 
mine eyes have seen thy salvation.’ Then Mr. 
Beecher says : 

“ 6 As the asters among plants go all summer 


CONSIDER THE LILIES. 


207 


long unbeautiful, their flowers hidden within, 
and burst into bloom at the very end of summer, 
and in late autumn with the frosts upon their 
heads, so this aged saint had blossomed, at the 
close of a long life, into this noble ecstasy of joy. 
In a stormy time, when outward life moves 
wholly against one’s wishes he is truly great 
whose soul becomes a sanctuary in which patience 
dwells with hope.’ ” 

“ There is poetry in the thought and language 
although the form is prose,” said Mrs. Russell. 
“ There is a pretty poem about asters, written by 
Dora Goodale when she was a child about your 
age.” 

“ Won’t you recite it, Laura? ” asked one of the 
girls. 

“ There is another called The Weed’s Mission, 
by Margaret Ey tinge that I like better, and can 
repeat, but I am afraid I am taking too much 
time.” 

“ Oh, no ! Please go on,” cried all the girls, and 
Mrs. Russell smiled assent. So Laura, began — 

“‘THE WEED’S MISSION.’ 

“ ‘ Tall grew a weed outside a garden gate. 

Inside a gladiole in splendor grew. 

“ Why do you with autumn blossoms wait ? ” 

The flower asked, “ There is no need of you, 


208 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


In truth I know not why you live at all. 

Only a few, pale, yellow blooms you bore, 

And worthless are your seeds. Pray droop and fall, 

I should not grieve at seeing you no more. 

I grace the world, for evening’s brightest skies 
Are not more rich in gold and red than I, 

And every day the lingering butterflies 
Beg me to stay till they must say, ‘ Good bye.’ ” 

« < «<Yes you are beautiful,” the weed replied 
In patient voice, “ and I am plain indeed. 

But God knows why.” Just then a bird, bright-eyed 
And scarlet-beaked, saw the clustering seed, 

And lighting on a slender branch he ate, 

With many a little chirp of thankful glee ; 

Then spread his wings and perched upon the gate 
And blessed his wayside friend in melody. 

“ Ah,” said the weed, when he had flown, “ proud flower, 
A hungry, south-bound bird you could not feed ; 

Though you rejoice in beauty’s gracious dower, 

That boon was granted to an humble weed.” ’ ” 

u You have given us two choice selections/’ said 
Mrs. Russell. “ But you have turned our lessons 
back from the mission of beauty to that of use- 
fulness ; have you not ? ” 

“ I see that the poem does. The gladiolus 
would delight us by its loveliness, and the weed 
we would consider an eyesore, and would de- 
stroy it, without thinking of the bird’s need.” 

“ How many lessons there are to he learned 
from flowers ! ” said Ethel. 

“ Yes ; many we cannot touch upon this even- 
ing. Now I will call upon Bessie Henderson.” 


CONSIDER THE LILIES. 


209 


Bessie rose and held up her large cluster of 
water-lilies, and her sweet voice thrilled all their 
hearts as she said, 

“ ‘ O star on the breast of the river, 

O marvel of bloom and grace, 

Did you fall straight down from heaven 
Out of the sweetest place ? 

You are white as the thoughts of an angel, 

Your heart is steeped in the sun ; 

Did you grow in the golden city, 

My pure and radiant one ? 


“ ‘ Nay, nay, I fell not out of heaven ; 

None gave me my saintly white ; 

It slowly grew from the blackness 
Down in the dreary night ; 

From the ooze of the silent river 
I won my glory and grace. 

White souls fall not, O my poet ; 

They rise to the sweetest place.’ ” 

“Well done, Bessie/’ said Mrs. Russell, who 
could hardly speak for a moment. “We will not 
soon forget that.” 

“No, indeed,” said Margaret. “It is lovely. 
Can you tell us who wrote it ? ” 

“ No, I cannot. I wish I knew. It was sent 
in a letter to me by my brother, and marked 
anonymous.” 

“You, dear girls, have adorned me with lilies. 
Am I expected to take them for my subject ? ” 

14 


210 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


“ Yes, Mrs. Russell,” said several of the girls ; 
but Laura added, 

a We thought the lilies the most harmonious 
with your character.” 

“ Oh, no ; do not say that. But let us all 
seek after purity and fragrance in our lives. 
When I proposed this excursion I was thinking 
of our Saviour’s words about lilies. He must 
have been looking at them with pleasure. Per- 
haps he had gathered some and held them in his 
hand when he bade us learn lessons from the 
flowers. I have been considering the lilies and 
will repeat a sonnet which contains some of my 
thoughts : 

“ ‘ LILIES.’ 

“ * When this pure fragrant cup I view, 

And mark its form of perfect grace ; 

When the tints and penciled lines I trace, 

Or gaze enchanted at the lovely hue 
Of these frail beauties that about us shine, 

The joy they give me is not earthly but divine, 

For, once a heavenly One with loving heart, 

Inhaled the odors from their censers fair, 

And said their radiance was beyond compare 
With costliest garments of man’s finest art. 

And so I think the flowers that bloom and die, 

Whose petals fall unseen by human eye, 

Please Him, who made them to express his love, 

And breathe soft incense on his throne above.’ ” 


When Mrs. Russell had finished her recitation 


CONSIDER THE LILIES. 


211 


a buzz of approval began, especially after the 
whispered comment, “ She wrote it herself/’ went 
round the circle. 

But Mrs. Russell checked their exclamations 
by herself beginning to talk. 

“ We have been following the Saviour’s com- 
mand, ‘ Consider the lilies of the field,’ our 
abundant flowers that grow everywhere. ‘ How 
they grow ; they toil not, neither do they spin ; 
and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all 
his glory was not arrayed like one of these.’ 
Think of some of the beauties of flowers, and tell 
them now. Ethel, what do you most admire 
in flowers?” 

“The lovely colors. All colors and tints. 
Some are one mass of color, others have the most 
delicate shading from one tint to another.” 

As Ethel stopped Emily added : “ Some flowers 
have the most delicate veins and spots, and cen- 
ters which add to their beauty by the contrasts 
and harmonious blending of different colors. An 
artist could hardly paint some of our small 
flowers, like the spring beauty. And there are 
other flowers smaller and more delicately veined 
than that.” 

“ And, Elsie, what do you say ? ” 

“ I like their fragrance. I like the odor of tea- 


212 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


roses, and lilies, and the pungent aroma of carna- 
tions. I like to do this.” And Elsie buried her 
face in her bunch of water lilies. The girls 
smiled at this characteristic act of the pleasure- 
loving Elsie. 

Mrs. Russell, thinking of higher things, looked 
at Margaret, who replied at once to her thought : 

“ One of the most beautiful things about 
flowers and plants and vines is their graceful 
shape. Their forms are all artistic. What a 
beautiful shape a lily has. There is no vase so 
lovely, unless it is moulded after the same design.” 

“ Yes, Margaret ; the forms and lines in nature 
are all artistic, and it is when we go to nature 
for our patterns that we get nearest to true art. 
Laura, do you think of anything else ? ” 

“Yes, there is something else, very different, 
that makes me love flowers, but I can hardly ex- 
press it. I used to think of them as the homes 
of the fairies, and I have hardly got over the 
feeling yet. I think of them as if there was 
more than the form that we see, as if they were 
living beings and could feel as we do — as if there 
was a spirit in them. Of course I know that can 
hardly be, and there are no such things as fairies. 
But is there not something true in my thought ? ” 
“ Yes, my dear,” said Mrs. Russell. “ Each 


CONSIDER THE LILIES. 


213 


flower is a thought of God. If Christ says con- 
sider the lilies, when I take one reverently in my 
hand I may hear God speaking to me. I wish 
you all would learn to find something deeper 
than the outside appearance in nature. God 
dwells in the world, and is working in it. If 
you will look for it you may find his Spirit there. ,, 

Then Emily said, 

“ Is it not strange that our Saviour should be- 
gin to talk about flowers and go on to the sub- 
ject of dress? He says one flower is more beau- 
tiful than Solomon’s richest robes, and then he 
says if God so clothe the grass in the fields he 
will also clothe you. Do you think the disciples, 
who were poor fishermen, wanted fine clothes to 

9 j> 

Mrs. Russell smiled and the girls laughed at 
this quaint remark. 

“ I am glad you are thinking about that, Emily. 
The Sermon on the Mount was spoken to multi- 
tudes, was it not ? And there must have been 
women there as well as men. The lesson Christ 
draws is one of faith in God. How much more 
will he clothe you than the perishable grass ! 
Do not give too much thought to dress. Other 
things are more important. Is not the lesson 
needed to-day as much as ever ? ” 


214 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


“ Yes ; everybody thinks a great deal about 
dress,” Laura answered. 

“ Is it not right to wear pretty dresses ? ” 
Lucy asked. “ If God loves to make the flowers 
pretty will he not like to have us make ourselves 
so too ? ” 

Mrs. Russell looked around to see if any one 
would reply to this, and Margaret took courage 
to speak : 

“ I think God does want us to be beautiful in 
the best way. I mean the highest kind of beauty. 
Good people are beautiful to God even if they 
wear plain clothes. And we sometimes see hand- 
some people in beautiful clothes, but their char- 
acters are so unlovely that we do not care any- 
thing for them.” 

Then Ethel asked, 

u If there had never been any sin in the world 
would everything have been beautiful ? ” 

“ I think so,” said Mrs. Russell. “ The high- 
est beauty, as Margaret has just said, is beauty of 
character. Seek after this. We have minds to 
educate and inform with countless stores of human 
and divine knowledge. We have hearts to culti- 
vate and to make sweet and tender and Christlike. 
Then the flowers wear their rich beauty uncon- 
sciously. They do not know they are so lovely. 


CONSIDER THE LILIES. 


215 


So we should wear such clothing as is proper 
for us, not seeking to be the most beautiful, or to 
attract the attention of others, but in a modest, 
quiet, unconscious way. Girls, I know it,” and 
here Mrs. Russell spoke so earnestly that her 
tones thrilled every one ; “ you may learn to not 
think of what you are wearing and to give your 
minds to far higher things. Now if you are 
not weary, there is one lesson more to be learned 
from flowers, and, as I think, the best of all.” 

“ Please do not stop, but tell us,” said Laura ; 
and as the other girls agreed Mrs. Russell went 
on : 

“ I love to think of flowers as God’s thoughts. 
He might have made the trees and plants to bear 
fruit and seed without them. Or have made them 
as inconspicuous as the blossoms of a maple or the 
spores of a fern. But instead of this, he has cloth- 
ed the world with their beauty, and they tell us 
many things about God. His orderly method of 
working; the variety and unity of his plans; 
his love of the beautiful, but above all his love 
for men, are all unfolded by the opening of these 
buds. When I look at these beautiful flowers I 
read there that God loves me. This message, 
that God loves men, he paints on the clouds at 
the opening and closing of each day, and scatters 


216 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


over all the meadows and hangs on the trees. 
The rainbow is also the pledge of his unfailing 
goodness to men. It combines in a vision of 
beauty the blessing of sun and shower, of sunshine 
after rain.” 

“ But, Mrs. Russell, why are these beauties so 
fleeting ? The lovely glow on the clouds is gor- 
geous but only for a short time at sunrise or sunset. 
Then it is gone. The clouds themselves are always 
changing their shapes and colors. The flowers 
last but a few days or hours, and then they fade 
away and are dead. If they reveal the love of 
God why are they not more permanent ? ” 

“I think there are several answers to your 
question, Emily. George MacDonald has one in 
his book called “The Seaboard Parish.” His 
thought is that God makes the beauty of ma- 
terial things fleeting, so that we may love true 
beauty more — that is the higher beauty. 

“ But there is a better reason. By making 
earthly beauty vanish and then renewing it, God 
shows the inexhaustible richness of his love. 
Beauty dies but it grows again. Nothing can 
really destroy it. Death has no power over it. 
For no sooner has it vanished in one form than 
it comes again with a fresh surprise in another 
lovely way. Because its real source is in God 


CONSIDER THE LILIES. 


217 


himself, beauty will always surround us, and this 
shows us that the love of God will never fail. 
The flower is God’s thought. If the flower is 
beautiful, God is still more beautiful and worthy 
of our love. 

“ Now I will stop talking, and Mary Robinson 
will recite a poem that will please you all. We 
all know what a talent she has for speaking, 
and I have left her to close our afternoon’s enter- 
tainment.” 

Mary had been studying elocution for two 
years, and although often called on to recite, and 
her recitations were very popular, yet she was 
a very modest child, and remained unspoiled 
by all the attention and praise she received. 
She said, “ I am wearing the white ageratum as 
you see, and I expected to learn a short selection 
about flowers, but mamma wrote a poem for me 
to recite to-day.” 

“ Oh, how lovely ! I wish my mamma could 
do that for me,” said Ethel. 

Then said Mary, “ It is called 

‘“LITTLE NED.’ 

“ ‘ I was sitting at my window, 

Watching the leaden rain 
That fell on the icy pavement 
And beat against the pane. 


218 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


My heart was heavy with sorrow, 
Bowed down with grief profound, 
Thinking of my Robbie lying 
Beneath that sodden ground. 

“ ‘ Then I heard a lively whistle ; 

It sounded strangely sweet, 

The courageous boyish music, 

Amid the rain and sleet. 

A ragged urchin passing by, 

A hungry careworn child, 
Forgetting he was wet and cold, 
Looked in my face and smiled. 

“‘I opened the door and called him : 

“ Come in, boy, out of the storm ; 
I’ll give you a hearty dinner ; 

Get yourself dry and warm 
And reveal the priceless secret, 

How you can be so cheery ; 

And try to comfort a stranger, 

When everything is dreary.” 

“ * “ Oh ma’am, I’ve a poor sick brother, 
Growin’ worse every day, 

And when he gets to feelin’ bad 
I whistle his pain away. 

An’ I knowed yer little Bobby : 

He’s often talked to me ; 

I know how dreadful bad you feel — 
I’m sorry as I can be.” 

“ ‘ Into my broken heart I felt 
Comfort gently stealing, 

From this brave boy, in all else poor, 
But rich in tender feeling. 

Then I took a well-filled basket, 

And warm clothing for his bed, 
And drove to the wretched hovel, 
Where he lived with little Ned. 


CONSIDER THE LILIES . 


219 


mu Wake up, Ned ! See this kind lady ! 

An’, she’s brought you somethin’ fine ; 
Bobby’s mother, you remember ; 

Now yer eyes begin to shine.” 

But the hungry eyes were staring, 

From the pinched face on the bed, 
Beyond the basket Tom was holding, 

To my roses, pink and red. 

“ * Too late all our skill to keep him ! 

Ended all his sufferings here ! 

Hands we could not see were beckoning 
To a life without a tear. 

“ You love flowers, little Neddie ; 

There’s a garden where they bloom 
All the year, and you may live there ; 

Jesus calls you to that home. 

<t < “Yes, it’s heaven, where lives the Saviour, 
There he has a place for you 
In his lovely flower garden ; 

Every word I say is true. 

Yes, he loves Ned. Will you trust him? 

When you pass within his door, 

Cold and pain and hunger never 
Will distress you any more.” 

“ ‘ Then the childish voice said slowly, 

“ Only Tommy — needs me here — 

I will go — and tend — the flowers — 

If the Saviour — wants me — there — 
Good-bye, brother— don’t be sorry.” 

His last smile to us was given, 

And, while we were sorely weeping, 

Little Ned had entered heaven.’ ” 


Mary rather excelled herself in this recitation. 
That her mother had written it made it seem 


220 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


more real to her, and by her speaking she made it 
very real to the other girls. When she ceased 
there was a profound silence ; then a sigh of re- 
lief to the feelings pent up in little hearts and 
almost ready to overflow. With glistening 
eyes the girls softly clapped their hands. Ethel 
leaned her head a moment on Alice’s shoulder. 
She could not have told, perhaps, what moved 
her feelings so. There had been much this day 
that made her think and feel deeply. Mrs. Russell 
said, 

“ Thank you, Mary. That was a beautiful 
recitation. It has stirred our hearts.” 

“ It seems strange,” said Elsie, “ that any chil- 
dren or people should not have flowers. Here 
all the poor people have their pretty gardens. 
Their front yards are full of the gayest kinds — 
nasturtiums, zinnias, and phlox, and flowers of 
that kind. Mother sent me to carry some to a 
little sick girl, and it’s an actual fact, they had 
more flowers than we have.” 

“ Mrs. Russell, could we not send some of our 
flowers to a large city to be given to the poor 
children ? We girls could get a good many every 
week,” said Laura. 

“ Of course we could, Laura,” said Rose ; “ and 
we could era is more next year if we had some- 


CONSIDER THE LILIES. 


221 


thing nice to send them to, where they would be 
really glad to get them.” 

“ I am glad to have you propose this,” said 
Mrs. Russell. “ If you are in earnest and will all 
unite in it, I can arrange with some of my friends 
in Cincinnati to have them sent where they are 
very much needed. It will be a very kind service 
to many poor children, like poor little Ned, who 
seldom see flowers, or have them to call their 
own. Will you all think about it ? ” 

“ Yes.” “ Yes.” “ We would like to do it,” 
they all said. 

u Now, we have been sitting a long time. Let 
us clear away these things, and I think we must 
soon start on our way home.” 


CHAPTER XIX. 


MARGARET SAVES THE TRAIN. 

“ The gentle heart that thinks with pain 
It scarce can lowliest tasks fulfill, 

And, if it dared its life to scan, 

Would ask for pathway low and still — 

Often such gentle heart is brought 
To act with power beyond its thought ; 

For God, through ways they have not known, 

Will lead his own.” 

Little Davie and Nellie had been growing* 
restless, but they too were fascinated by the story 
of little Ned. When it was over they got up and 
ran around. Davie saw a red squirrel running 
along the top rail of a fence and called Nellie to 
come and help him catch it. But when it ran up 
a tall oak tree, Nellie said, 

“ Let us get some bread and feed it and may 
be it will come down.” 

While Nellie went to get the bread, Davie ran 
to Martin and asked him to catch the squirrel. 
Martin told him that red squirrels were lively 
little beasts and the only way to get them was to 

shoot them. 

222 


MARGARET SAVES THE TRAIN. 


223 


Davie said, 

“ I will tell papa about it, and he will come out 
here with his big gun and shoot it.” 

But Nellie did not want any one to shoot her 
little red squirrel. Just then Elsie called them to 
look at a little bird digging a hole near the end 
of a large branch on an oak tree. It was rotten 
and had been broken by the wind. The bird was 
a downy woodpecker. It had already made the 
hole so large that it could go clear in, leaving only 
the end of its tail hanging out. They could not 
think what it was making this hole for. It was 
too late to be making a nest. Davie said, 

“ May be it is making a place to keep acorns 
in for winter.” 

If this was its plan it would have a dry little 
room, for it had made the door on the under side 
of the branch. But the probability is that it had 
found a nest of black ants, and was destroying 
their house and eating them. They could see it 
hold on by its sharp claws and hammer away at 
the wood very fast, then stick its bill in the hole 
and throw out the fine chips, which Elsie called 
sawdust. 

“ It is not sawdust,” said Davie, 66 for the 
bird hasn’t any saw. It is bill-dust.” 

This nice distinction Elsie thought too good to 


224 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


keep. So she repeated it to the girls when she 
went back where they were clearing np the supper 
table. 

As the girls would not let Mrs. Russell help 
them get their baskets in order, she looked 
around till she saw that Ethel was not very busy 
and said to her, 

“ I am tired sitting still so long. Let us walk 
about.” 

With her arm around her young companion 
they went toward the brow of the hill overlook- 
ing the valley. Here they stopped and leaned 
upon a fence looking at the rich farms below. 
Wheat fields now in stubble, corn fast ripening, 
great stacks of straw or of wheat still unthreshed, 
and apple orchards loaded with red and yellow 
apples, were to be seen as far as the eye could 
reach.” 

u This has been an eventful day to you, 
Ethel, and you will often think about it.” 

“ Yes, it has been: and I have been thinking 
how I just escaped being bitten by that horrid 
snake. I would be dead now if it had done 
it. It makes me shudder yet to think about it. 
I know I am not fit to die, and you have told 
us so many times about heaven and its happy 
people. I want to go to heaven when I ” 


tsmmwf* 




MARGARET SAVES THE TRAIN. 


225 


And Ethel stopped with her sentence unfin- 
ished. 

“You know that heaven is the home of Christ 
and his people. If we trust in him and love 
him here we shall always dwell with him in his 
home. W e are to show our love by our service.” 

“ I feel as if I could never be the same girl 
again. Everything has changed to me. I never 
thought before of living a good life. I have 
wanted to be having a good time always. I have 
wanted to have nicer things and dresses than any 
one else. But to-day I think it would be better 
to grow modest, sweet and pure like the lovely 
flowers, and to be doing some good in the 
world.” 

“ It makes me very happy to hear you speak 
in this way, Ethel. You are learning some of the 
deeper lessons of life to-day.” 

“ I would like to talk with you more about it,” 
said Ethel as she saw some of the other girls com- 
ing that way. “ May I come up to see you to- 
morrow.” 

“I would gladly have you. Can you come at 
nine o’clock? Well, then, I will expect you at 
that hour.” 

The children had now cleared away the re- 
mains of the supper. It was only about half-past 
*5 


226 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


six o’clock, and there was no hurry about going 
back to town. Alice had collected a large bou- 
quet of all the various flowers except the violets 
and roses, and she asked Margaret and Laura to 
go with her down the cut and help her look for 
some of these. 

The other girls were packing a basket to leave 
with Mrs. Morgan ; she was a lady eighty years old, 
very feeble and poor, a member of their church, 
and taken care of by the deacons and ladies of 
the church. 

As the three girls came toward the lower end 
of the cut the sun was just setting. They could 
see its level rays reddening a line of trees that 
shaded the track on the west side. Margaret 
stopped and said : 

“ Look along the rails, girls. There is some- 
thing on the track, an obstruction of some kind, 
that might cause an accident.” 

“ Where ? ” asked Laura. “ I don’t see any- 
thing.” 

Margaret pointed to the place, and Alice said : 

u Yes, there is something there. Let us go 
and see it.” 

They ran along as fast as Margaret could go : 
and before they reached it they were horrified. 
Just beyond the cut was an embankment eight 


MARGARET SAVES THE TRAIN. 


227 


or ten feet high. The shadow of a large grove 
on a part of the hill on the west side covered it 
when the sun was low down in the western sky. 
Here one rail had been pried loose and slightly 
displaced, and a heavy log fastened in between 
the ties on the other side so that it would derail 
the train, without being seen by the engineer 
in time to stop it. There was a heavy grade 
down the cut in that direction, and a curve 
in the track at the other end. It had been 
skillfully planned by some very wicked men 
either for revenge or robbery. 

“ Oh ! ” cried Margaret, “the Vestibule Lim- 
ited ; It is coming now and it will be thrown off the 
track. What can we do ? Is there time to stop 
it? Let us try.” 

Laura said : “ Let us run back as fast as we 
can ; ” and they started. 

Then Alice said : “ Laura, you go out on the 
road and run to where mamma is, and get Martin 
to go on one of the ponies, and Margaret and I 
will run along the railroad.” 

Laura gave them a red sash she was wearing. 
They were very much frightened, for they 
thought the men who did this evil work might 
be hiding near and would try to stop them, but 
they ran on. Two vicious-looking men did peer 


228 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


out of some bushes at the girls. One said : 
“ Let’s catch ’em.” 

“No,” said the other. “We had much better 
run the other way ourselves. Our game is 
blocked. The train is late and they will stop it.” 

Then they disappeared among the bushes, and 
crept away into the woods, and were not seen again 
in that neighborhood. Alice was too much afraid 
to run by herself, and Margaret hurried on much 
faster than was good for her lame foot. As they 
went Alice took out two red fruit-napkins which 
she had put in her pocket. She said to Margaret : 

“ You take the sash. I will wave these. Do 
you know how we ought to wave them for a sig- 
nal to stop ? ” 

“ I have heard but I forget now. I might 
wave this long sash up and down, and you could 
wave the napkins to and fro in front of you. 
One of them will be the right signal. Anything 
red waved on the track is a signal of danger.” 

They did not hear any sound of the train un- 
til they had gone through the cut and some dis- 
tance beyond it, when they heard it coming four 
or five miles away. They ran on faster, and 
when they were more than a quarter of a mile 
from the cut they saw the engine. They began 
waving their red signals and then stepped off, one 


MARGARET SAVES THE TRAIN. 


229 


on each side of the track. In an instant the train 
was dashing by them, but the engineer had seen 
their warning signals, and the sharp whistle for 
“ down brakes,” was blowing and waking up all 
the tired travelers. They put their heads out of 
the windows and asked each other “ What is the 
matter ? ” The train was running about fifty 
miles an hour, and though the air-brakes were set 
at once they did not stop the train until it had run 
half-a-mile, and the engine was within a few feet 
of the obstruction. 

The passengers and trainmen all poured out 
of the cars to see what was on the track. Every 
one said, “ What a narrow escape from a dread- 
ful wreck ! ” They looked down the bank and 
could almost see the heavy train piled up in a 
ruined heap, and the people mangled and bruised, 
dead and dying, lying under the cars. The en- 
gineer said he could not have seen the obstruc- 
tion as the track was in the shadow of the trees 
He was sure it was put there by some one who 
knew all about the trains and the railroad. Some 
of the men began to search the bushes for 
the villains, while the track was being repaired ; 
but by this time the wicked authors of the 
deed were far away, hiding in the woods. 
There were many congratulations among the 


230 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


passengers over their escape, and not a few 
of them thanked God for saving their lives, and 
sending these young girls to undo the awful wick- 
edness planned by evil men. In the meantime the 
conductor had sent a man to look up the girls 
who had given them warning. Martin had come 
up on a pony just as the train went by, and he had 
put Margaret on the pony and they all had started 
down the road again. When they came to the 
bridge they stopped and looked down at the train 
to see if it was safe. Here the man saw them 
and hailed them, and asked if they had stopped 
the train. Alice said, yes. He climbed the side 
of the cut and inquired all about it, and if they 
had seen any men about the neighborhood. 

Alice told him how Margaret had discovered 
the obstruction on the rails, and that Laura Fuller- 
ton had gone out on the road to send Martin on 
horseback. Martin said : 66 1 was not there. 

I had gone off to water my horses, but I came 
back when I heard them all screamin’ for 
me. And I galloped along as fast as the little 
pony could go. An’ it’s glad I am yer all safe, 
sor.” 

Then the trainman turned to go, after thanking 
them all, saying he must hurry back to his 
train. 


MARGARET SAVES THE TRAIN. 


231 


When they got back to the carriage Mrs. 
Russell told Alice she might go with Martin 
down to the train where the rest of the girls had 
gone already. She would stay with Margaret, 
whose foot was paining her a great deal. But 
she cautioned them not to stop more than a few 
minutes, and to bring the other girls back, for it 
was necessary to take Margaret home at once. 

Of course much time and space might be taken 
up in telling all that was said and done by these 
excited girls, but it is time to hurry Margaret 
home, as Mrs. Russell did. She was a woman 
of too much energy to dally at such a time. She 
put Margaret in her own carriage, intending to 
let Ethel go with Laura. She gathered up the 
baskets and in a few minutes was ready to start. 
Leaving Margaret, she ran to a point overlook- 
ing the crowd about the train, and soon beckoned 
to some of the girls to return. In a short 
time the whole party was on the way home, driv- 
ing rapidly in the cool evening air. 

Laura was to go at once to Dr. Pendleton’s office 
and send him up to see Margaret, and in a quarter 
of an hour after she had reached home he drove 
up. “ Where is this brave, sharp-sighted girl, 
who has saved so many lives to-night ? I feel it 
an honor to shake hands with her,” said the 


2S2 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS . 


doctor in his own breezy way as he came into 
the room. 

“ I have not done anything unusual, Doctor ; 
any boy or girl would have done the same.” 

“ You have done a brave, generous deed at 
some cost to yourself. Not many children would 
have been so observant, or have thought of the 
danger to the train. We must do what we can 
to repair the damage to your weak foot. Let me 
see it now, please.” 

When he had examined it the doctor looked 
grave, for it was swollen and inflamed. 

“ It will be something like a bad sprain. The 
cords are weak. Such a hard run was too much 
after walking about more than usual. Then not 
using that limb very much, the muscles are prob- 
ably not very strong.” 

“ But they are getting stronger, Doctor ; ” and 
Margaret told him how Dr. Fulton had directed 
her to exercise it. Then the doctor told her she 
must lie still in bed for two or three days and not 
use her foot at all during that time. He sent Elsie 
and Lucy, who had come in, to the drug-store for 
some liniment. He asked Margaret more about 
how the railroad track had been torn up, and how 
far they had to run to meet the train : for the story 
about it that was going all over town was not very 


MARGARET SAVES THE TRAIN. 


233 


exact. Then saying he would call in the next 
day, and that he had three hours’ work to do be- 
fore he would get home again, the busy physician 
hurried away. Mrs. Russell remained for a time 
helping Mrs. Marshall, and the girls stayed at 
the door to keep out the kind but curious neigh- 
bors, who wanted to hear all about the afternoon’s 
adventures. When Margaret was placed comfort- 
ably in bed, Mrs. Russell went home, somewhat 
wearied after the exciting events that had closed 
up a day which seemed before full enough of 
stirring incidents. 


CHAPTER XX. 


FIRST FRUITS. 

Be patient ! Ob, be patient ! 

Put your ear against the earth ; 

Listen there how noiselessly 
The germ o’ the seed has birth ; 

How noiselessly and gently 
It upheaves its little way. 

Till it parts the scarcely broken ground. 

And the blade stands up in the day. 

Be patient ! Oh. be patient ! 

The germs of nightly thought 

Must have their silent undergrowth, 

Must under ground be wrought. 

R. C. French. 

It was with mingled feelings that Mrs. Russell 
sat down at last to rest in her own room. She was 
very thankful that all her girls were safe at home. 
She was proud of Margaret, and Laura, and her 
own Alice. Then her thoughts returned to Ethel 
and the deep feeling she had shown. Before 
she closed her eyes in sleep she read over the par- 
able of the sower, and then turned to the beauti- 
234 


FIRST FRUITS. 


235 


ful promises in the fifty-fifth chapter of Isaiah : 
“For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from 
heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth 
the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it 
may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater : 
so shall my word he that goeth forth out of 
my mouth : it shall not return unto me void, hut 
it shall accomplish that which I please, and it 
shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” 

Mrs. Russell believed that good seed sown and 
cultivated would bring a sure harvest. She 
reasoned that the careful farmer or gardener sel- 
dom fails to have a good crop. So if the mind 
is prepared, if the weeds of evil and frivolous 
principles are cut down, and if the good seed, 
that is, the principles of truth and righteousness 
in God’s own word, is carefully planted and 
watched over, then a good spiritual harvest is 
absolutely certain. It rests on God’s promise. It 
cannot fail. 

She knew how many weeds were growing in this 
little circle. She attacked them fearlessly. Some 
of the parents were very careless about the re- 
ligious training of their children. They seemed 
to leave it entirely to the church to accomplish 
by the Sabbath-school and the church services. 
Sometimes Mrs. Russell went to them and urged 


236 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


them to talk to their girls about the foolish and 
hurtful ways they had. But she did not get much 
satisfaction. She urged the mothers to keep them 
at home more, to give them duties at home that 
would teach them good housekeeping and help them 
to be industrious and so keep them out of mischief. 
She expected God by his Spirit to change the 
character of these girls. The indifference of the 
mothers was the greatest source of discouragement. 
If she could have had their help she would have 
felt much greater inspiration. None of the girls 
had yet shown much response to her patient teach- 
ing during the past two years. 

Now her faith did not seem as strong as it 
should he, for Ethel was the last one she had ex- 
pected to reach and she proved to be the very 
first to show an earnest desire to grow up in a 
different way. Often it is as the Saviour said, 
“ The first shall be last and the last, first.” We 
do not see all the influences that are at work 
beneath the surface. Mrs. Russell had not 
thought of this — that she had a much greater in- 
fluence over Ethel, than over the other girls, from 
the fact of her being with Alice so constantly. 
This was the true explanation. Ethel saw the 
earnest Christian home-life. She knew that Mrs. 
Russell’s loving and careful training of Alice was 


FIRST FRUITS. 


237 


wise and right; and though it often interfered 
with her own plans, yet she could not but love 
and admire her very much indeed. 

Mrs. Russell now knelt to confess her want of 
faith and to ask forgiveness, and then poured out 
her heart in thankfulness for the influence of the 
Spirit, and asked that his work might go on and 
that the dear child might be converted. In the 
morning she rose earlier than usual and spent a 
quiet hour in thought, and in searching the Bible 
for the most suitable passages to read to Ethel, 
and in prayer, which is more important than all 
other preparation, for it is the key of God’s 
treasury. 

At the breakfast table Alice said she wished to 
go see how Margaret was. Mrs. Russell con- 
sented at once. When she reached Ethel’s house 
she saw her on the piazza, and asked her to go 
too. Ethel said, 

“ I would like to go very much, but cannot 
this morning. I may go this afternoon. I want 
to talk with your mother, and promised to go to 
your house at nine o’clock.” 

“ Well, I can go back and when you get through 
we can go together,” said Alice. 

But Ethel refused. “No, you go on, and if 
there is time I may come for you.” 


238 ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS . 

So Alice went on, and on the way persuaded 
Laura to go with her. She wondered greatly 
what Ethel wanted to talk about with her 
mother. 

As Ethel went up the street she felt more shy 
and timid than she had expected to. Her feelings 
were not as much excited as in the evening. But 
her determination to be a different kind of a girl 
was just as strong. She felt very quiet and calm 
about it. She might have thought she had lost 
some of her interest ; but her mind was fixed on 
doing what Mrs. Russell thought she ought to do, 
and she wished in her heart to be like her. 

Mrs. Russell greeted her very kindly. She 
asked if she had heard from Margaret that morn- 
ing. 

Ethel said she had not. 

“ You did not get so excited last evening as to 
lose your interest in your own spiritual growth ? ” 

“ No, Mrs. Russell. I think I want more than 
ever to be a better girl. How brave Margaret 
was ! She forgot she was lame, and ran to save the 
people on the train. Yet, Mrs. Russell, I do not 
feel as I did last night. Then I was almost ready 
to cry. Now I do not feel that way, but I know 
that I want to be different.” 

“ Ethel, I am more than glad to hear you say 


FIRST FRUITS. 


239 


this. If it had been only a matter of feeling, and 
your feelings had quieted down, then you might 
not have cared much about it. If you truly 
desire to grow up into an earnest, high-minded 
woman, I will be delighted to help you all I 
can. It is possible for you to become such. You 
need not be swayed by circumstances. You need 
not stay on the level of your companions or 
friends. You need not belike them nor live a life 
like theirs. You can choose higher things and 
seek them and attain them.’ 7 

“ That is what I want to do, if you will be so 
kind as to tell me how and help me.” 

“ I will, all I can. But you need better help 
than mine, and you can have it now, and here, and 
always, and everywhere. You remember the 
poem yesterday about the lily, how it dropped 
not from heaven ? ” 

“ Oh, yes ; it rose from black, miry soil, and 
grew white and pure and sweet. I remembered 
that, for I saw how black the dirt was when Rose 
and Lucy came out of that swamp.” 

u In the poem which Laura repeated about the 
child being kept unsullied and pure there was a 
similar thought. However innocent a child’s 
mind may be it soon grows soiled and worldly. 
Does it not ? ” 


240 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


“ Yes, and selfish.” 

“ There is need then of a great change. You 
feel that. There must be a germ of holy, pure, 
divine life planted in the soul. This is what the 
Bible teaches us we all need. It is called a 
change of heart. It is a change of purpose, 
thoughts and feelings. It does not grow from 
the outside inward, but from within, outward. 
It is a change that God by his Spirit can produce, 
and he only can. He says, ( A new heart also 
will I give you and a new spirit will I put within 
you.’ Ezek. 36 : 26. Therefore we are told, 
4 If any man be in Christ, he is a new crea- 
ture : old things are passed away ; behold, all 
things are become new.’ 2 Cor. 5 : 17. This 
God can do, but we cannot. When God has 
given us a new heart he will help us every day 
to live aright. He has promised to send his 
Spirit to dwell in us all the time. Think of it, 
Ethel ! If you love Christ, the Holy Spirit will 
live in your heart always. He will teach you. 
He will give you better and holier thoughts. He 
will be your daily Guide. Don’t you think that if 
the Holy Spirit is in your heart all the time, you 
can live the highest, noblest, and most useful life 
that is possible ? ” 

“ Yes, Mrs. Bussell, I can understand that. 


FIRST FRUITS. 


241 


His presence would be the most elevating influence 
and overcome other influences.” 

“ That is just it, my dear child. We hear a 
great deal said about character being determined 
by environment, which means by surroundings. 
But the Bible doctrine is, that by God’s help we 
rise above surroundings. It makes all the dif- 
ference in the world if we have God on our side. 
Nothing can then hurt us. Nothing can overcome 
us. All things are then ours. W e have the best 
if God is with us.” 

Mrs. Russell then went over some of the truth 
she had often taught her class, showing how 
it was because God loved men that he sent his Son 
to die for them, and to make an atonement for 
their sins ; and that if we will ask forgiveness for 
Christ’s sake, he is ready to forgive all our sins. 
She then asked, 

“ Do you wish God to forgive you, and give you 
a new heart ? ” 

“ Yes,” whispered the child, who was now very 
much moved. 

“ Do you want to be a Christian and live a Christ- 
like life?” 

“ Yes, if Christ will take me for one of his 
followers, and help me.” 

16 


242 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


“ Then let us kneel down and tell him all about 
it, and ask his help/’ 

While they knelt, Mrs. Russell prayed for Ethel 
in a very earnest, tender, simple way. Afterwards 
she talked with her about reading* certain parts of 
the Bible, which would be most instructive to her. 
Ethel said. 

“ I want all the help I can get ; for I am de- 
termined to go on in the right way.” 

u You must give yourself to Christ without any 
reserve, and look to him to guide and help you. 
Read the Bible and ask him to make it plain to 
you. W e all are ignorant of the difficulties of a 
Christian life when we begin it. But if we use 
the light we have, God gives us more light and 
strength each day. 

“ We are like James and John who consented 
to their mother’s ambitious scheme to seek for 
them the first place in Christ’s kingdom. They 
did not know that the first place in his royal 
service meant, like Christ’s own service, self- 
denial, self-sacrifice, hardship, vile reproach and 
the martyr’s death. He asked them, c Are ye able 
to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be 
baptized with the baptism that I am baptized 
with ? ’ They said, ‘ W e are able.’ Oh how little 
they knew what they were promising ! But they 


FIRST FRUITS. 


243 


were made able. Taught by the Holy Spirit, 
they grew to know what Christ was, and what 
his work was, and in their great love for him, 
and with the strength he gave them, they be- 
came founders of his church, and they died 
martyrs for his truth. 

“ And so you and other children may safely 
take the vows of a Christian life, if you heartily 
and intelligently consecrate your life to Christ. 
For he will teach you and train you. He will 
give you needed strength day by day. 6 As thy 
days, so shall thy strength be.’ ” 

On the way home, Ethel met Alice returning 
from Margaret’s. They stopped to talk of 
Margaret, and Alice saw that Ethel’s face still 
bore the trace of tears. 

“ Is anything the matter, Ethel ? ” 

“ Oh, I will tell you some time but not now, 
Alice. I must go home now.” 

When she got home Alice asked her mother, 

“ Mamma, what is the matter with Ethel, and 
what was she talking about with you ? ” 

“ You remember that yesterday she was in 
great danger. She has been thinking about it, 
and she wants to be a better girl.” 

“Is she going to be a Christian and join the 
church ? ” 


244 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


u I hope she may. But it is too soon to 
talk about it. I do not wish you to say 
anything about it to the other girls at present. 
Alice, you would like to help her, would you 
not ? ” 

“ I am not a Christian, mamma. How could I 
help her?” 

“ You can help her in several ways. When 
she is thoughtful you can talk to her about 
things I have taught you. You can be more 
sober and thoughtful. You can bring her up 
here to me. And you would help her by being a 
Christian yourself.” 

Mrs. Russell did not say any more then for she 
knew she had said enough to set Alice thinking. 
And so she had, and these were some of Alice’s 
thoughts. 

“ Is Ethel going to be a Christian I wonder ? 
I am surprised.” 

And then : “ She has had so many more nice 
things than I ; and is she going to be a Christian 
before I am ? I never thought she would.” 

Ethel soon became conscious of the deeper 
seriousness in her friend’s manner and thoughts. 
While they did not talk much about it together, 
the knowledge of each that the other was think- 
ing about the same things was a help to them 


FIRST FRUITS. 


245 


both. Mrs. Russell also felt that it was the time 
to pray more earnestly for her daughter’s con- 
version, for she saw that another good seed was 
beginning to grow there. 


CHAPTER XXL 


A STARTLING DISCOVERY. 

Take the lesson to thyself, 

Loving heart and true ; 

Golden years are fleeting by, 

Youth is passing, too ; 

Learn to make the most of life, 

Lose no happy day ; 

Time will never bring thee back 
Chances swept away. 

Leave no tender word unsaid ; 

Love while life shall last, — 

“ The mill will never grind 

With the water that has passed.” 

Sarah Doudney. 

The morning after the picnic Rose Gaylord 
had a surprise. She was a prompt, energetic girl 
who did not let any advantages she had gained 
slip through her fingers before she had made a 
complete use of them. It is common for children 
to begin a piece of work with great industry, but 
to leave it unfinished. Perhaps they may lay out 
too large an enterprise, which requires too much 

labor for those who are yet untrained to persevere 
246 


A STARTLING DISCOVERY. 


247 


in work. Or they are apt to get interested in 
some new thing, and dropping everything else 
they pursue it with all their power. In the 
spring they swarm into the woods and gather 
baskets full of the dainty wild flowers, digging 
up a great number of plants to be set out in 
favorite nooks of their own little gardens. They 
come home tired, and leave them till the next 
morning, and the forgotten plants wither and die. 
Solomon says, “ The slothful man roasteth not 
that which he took in hunting : but the substance 
of a diligent man is precious/’ 

Rose had no unfinished quilts, half-filled scrap- 
books, or ragged, incomplete drawings. So now 
she prepared to develop the negatives she had 
taken the day before. She took her camera to 
her room, darkened all the windows with shawls 
and quilts, and lighted her little red lamp. 

After finishing up the view of the tangle of 
briers and bushes on the hill-top she was very 
much delighted with it. There were some beau- 
tiful effects of light and shade, with rays of sun- 
light like paths streaming through it. As she 
was examining it closely she saw the face of a 
man looking at her through the lower rails of 
the fence, with the light shining full on his face. 
It frightened her so when she saw it that she 


248 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


started and looked around as if the man were 
near her now and watching her. She thought, 
“ That man was peeping out at us when we did 
not see him, but the camera caught him.” After 
a few moments she exclaimed to herself, “ Perhaps 
that was the man who tried to wreck the train ! 
There may have been another, or several, hid be- 
hind those bushes. Dreadful ! How horrid it is 
to have so many bad men and old tramps swarm- 
ing in all the nice places we want to visit in the 
country — I must show this to papa, now.” 

She put away her other negatives carefully, 
took the plate, and went downstairs. She looked 
for her mother but did not find her. So she did 
not show it to any one else hut went down town 
to her father’s office. 

Mr. Gaylord was a lawyer, and for several years 
had been the attorney for the railroad company 
whose train was so nearly wrecked. When Rose 
came in he was consulting with one of his clients 
about a case in court. Rose said, 

“ May I speak to you soon, papa ? ” 

“ Yes, daughter. In a few moments I will be 
at leisure.” 

When at last he turned to her she said, 

“ Papa, I want you to look at this picture which 
I took yesterday. When I was developing it I 


A STARTLING DISCOVERY. 249 

made a discovery ; and if you will look at it, I 
think you will find something worth while.” 

“ Rose, I am too busy to be looking at pictures 
now. I can do it at dinner-time.” 

u But, papa, there was a man hiding in those 
bushes and here is a picture of him. It was very 
near where they tried to wreck the train.” 

“ W ell, that is something to think about. Let 
me look at it. Yes, I see, I see. Where have 
I seen that man ? ” Mr. Gaylord rubbed his 
glasses and looked at it again. Then he rose 
and opened a drawer and took out a magnifying 
glass. “ I believe I know him now.” 

“ Who is it, papa ? ” 

“ A man that used to work on the railroad. 
This may be very important. Tell me just where 
this corner was.” 

Rose described the locality very exactly, for 
she was something like her father in her power 
of observation, and he had unconsciously trained 
her to great accuracy in description. 

“ I will know where to find it. Have you 
shown this to any one ? ” 

u No, papa. I was going to show it to mam- 
ma, but she was not at home ; so I did not show 
it to any one but brought it right down here.” 

“ That was right ; thank you, Rose. Let me 


250 ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 

take this picture ; and say nothing about it to any 
one, till I give you permission. Now please go 
back to the house, and send Dick down here with 
the horse and buggy at once.” 

Mr. Gaylord wrapped up the plate carefully 
and took it to the foreman of that section of the 
railroad. When he saw the man’s face he said, 

66 That is Jim Young. Don’t you remember 
him, Mr. Gaylord? He was a good hand when 
he let drink alone : but that was not often, and 
it was the ruination of him. We turned him off 
a few months ago.” 

In fact Jim had left the neighborhood and it 
was not known that he had returned. Mr. Gay- 
lord took the foreman in his buggy and they 
drove out to the railroad cut, and soon found 
the place Rose had described. 

The trampled grass, cigar-stumps, and greasy 
papers showed that this was the place where men 
had been hiding. They soon came to the con- 
clusion that there were two of them. They found 
the tools they had used in their dastardly work, 
and which they had stolen from a farm-house a few 
miles away. These Mr. Gaylord gathered up and 
took with him as further evidence connecting the 
men with the crime. 

That day Jim Young and his companion were 


A STARTLING DISCOVERY. 


251 


found about fifteen miles away, and were arrested 
and brought to the city. The next morning they 
were taken into court and examined ; and as 
there was further evidence against them, they 
were remanded for trial at the next session of 
court. They could not give bail, and were locked 
up in the county jail. 

By this time the way they had been caught 
was known in the city. Rose wanted her picture 
back again to show the girls. Her father said he 
could not let her have it, but he took it to a 
photographer and had a few copies struck off, and 
kept the plate and one of the copies, for evi- 
dence against the prisoners. 


CHAPTEE XXII. 


Margaret’s new friend. 

Touched by a light that hath no name, 

A glory never sung, 

Aloft on sky and mountain wall 
Are God’s great pictures hung. 

How changed the summits vast and old ! 

No longer granite-browed, 

They melt in rose mist ; the rock 
Is softer than the cloud ; 

The valley holds its breath ; no leaf 
Of all its elms is twirled : 

The silence of eternity 
Seems falling on the world. 

J. G. Whittier. 

During all this week Margaret was obliged to 
remain in bed. Her foot pained her a great deal, 
and the swelling subsided slowly. The inflamma- 
tion and weakness showed that the injury from 
the unusual exertion was serious, and that it would 
take several weeks for her to recover. Dr. Pen- 
dleton said, 

“ I wish I could send you away to the lakes or 

the mountains, when you get a little better.” 

252 


MAR CARET'S NE W FRIENDS. 253 

“ You might as well tell me to walk there as to 
go any other way. It is not possible for me to 
go,” said Margaret. 

“ W e will see about it. There are more ways 
than you may know about of doing such things,” 
said the kind old doctor. 

But Margaret was not discouraged or lonely, 
for every day some of the girls came to see her. 
They brought her fruit and flowers. They 
brought games and played with her, and books 
for her to read. Mr. Fullerton sent her a ticket 
to the public library and Laura brought with it 
Captain January. 

The girls and some older friends were so at- 
tentive, that after two or three days Mrs. Mar- 
shall found it was not necessary for her to re- 
main at home, and she went back again to her 
cashier’s desk. 

About a week after the eventful day of the 
excursion Mr. Gaylord and Rose drove up to the 
store as it was closing for the day. When Mrs. 
Marshall came out, Mr. Gaylord said, 

“ Come ride with us ; Rose and I are going up 
to see Margaret.” They found Margaret sitting 
up in an easy-chair, with her foot on a cushion in 
another chair. 

Rose said, “ Margaret, this is my father.” 


254 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


Mr. Gaylord stepped to her side and held out 
his hand saying, 

“ Don’t move. I am glad to meet such a brave 
little woman. Dr. Pendleton says you are gain- 
ing a little strength now.” 

“ Yes, I am better ; but he will not let me walk 
yet.” 

“ All in good time. You must not begin too 
soon. We want you to get entirely over the pres- 
ent weakness, and be stronger than you ever 
were. Such a useful person as you have shown 
yourself to be we cannot afford to have shut up 
indoors. I have come this evening to bring you 
the thanks of the directors of our railroad com- 
pany,” he said, as he handed her a large envelope. 
Margaret opened it and found three large sheets 
of paper, printed in various colors, and with many 
figures on them, and a note written on large 
business paper. With eyes dilated with wonder 
and a look of perplexity on her pale face, she said, 

“ Why, Mr. Gaylord ? What is it ? I do not 
understand what it is.” 

“ Read the note. That will show you what 
the papers are.” 

This was a kind letter from the president of the 
railroad company, thanking Margaret for what 
she had done in discovering the danger to the 


MARGARETS NEW FRIENDS . 


255 


train and in warning the engineer of it. The 
enclosed bonds were a testimonial of their grati- 
tude for her valuable services in saving so many 
lives that were endangered. They hoped she 
would soon recover from the injury she had re- 
ceived, and the company desired her to avail herself 
freely of Dr. Pendleton’s services as long as they 
were needed, for which there would be no charge 
as he was their surgeon. 

The rosy flush which spread over Margaret’s 
pale face, showed how she was touched by these 
words and tokens of appreciation. In spite of 
all, her brave spirit had given way now and then 
to a feeling of depression, as she thought of school 
beginning, and that there was no prospect of her 
being able to go for some time. Yet she had not 
thought of being rewarded, or even being cared 
for while she was laid up. Now, when she had 
taken in the meaning of the letter, her heart was* 
filled with a glad sense of being somehow related 
to a good many people. The fatherless girl 
seemed to find the world large and sweet, and 
a good many friends in it. 

She handed the letter to her mother. 

“ Oh, mamma, read it. Oh, I don’t deserve 
anything. I only did what any one would have 
done.” 


256 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


“Your sharp eyes saw more than any others 
did see, or might have seen at that distance/’ said 
Mr. Gaylord. “Your quick wits and common sense 
helped you to understand at once that something 
must be done. Your self-sacrifice in running 
that half a mile in spite of your lameness shows 
a very noble spirit. You may not think so, 
but you are a heroine, and we all are proud of 
you. 

“ Those papers are railroad bonds of five 
hundred dollars each. They will yield you a 
little more than one hundred dollars a year. 
Our directors asked me to make a suggestion 
about sending you a testimonial. From Rose 
and Alice I learned of your wish to get an 
education beyond the high school course. I 
wrote to the directors about it and they have 
sent you these bonds to use for that purpose if 
you so wish. Of course you are at liberty to use 
them in any way. They are your property ; but 
if you wish, after consulting with your mother, 
to keep them till you graduate from the high 
school, I would suggest that you get a box and 
ask one of the banks to keep them for you in 
their vault. They will be glad to do it for you. 

“ I have also another letter for you from the 
general superintendent, Henry Roberts,” con- 


MAR GARET 'S NE W FRIENDS. 257 

tinued Mr. Gaylord. u He once knew your 
father, and wants you to spend a montli with his 
wife and children at Cresson Springs, and he 
sent you this pass over the road.” 

Margaret read the letter, which included a kind 
message from Mrs. Roberts. By this time her 
cheeks were rosy and her eyes bright, and her 
head was nearly turned with so many new and 
exciting things to think about. 

Mr. Gaylord urged Mrs. Marshall to send her 
to the mountains. She said, “ I don’t see how 
she can go alone. She is so young and sickly 
to go among strangers. I cannot get away now 
nor spend the money to take her on.” 

“ Do not be uneasy about that, Mrs. Marshall. 
We will find some one we know going East. 
There are always many nice ladies among the 
passengers, and the conductors will take care of 
her as if she was their sister or daughter. And 
I know Mrs. Roberts and her daughter. They 
will take good care of her, and she will like them ; 
won’t she, Rose ? ” 

“ Oh yes indeed, Margaret. You will have a 
lovely time. I only wish I could go too. Helen 
Roberts is just your age, and she is very nice.” 

“ Now talk this over with your mother and I 
will come again to-morrow evening. If Dr. Pen- 

17 


258 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


clleton consents I want to send you on next 
week.” 

“ Margaret, did I tell you this morning of the 
lovely book I received ? ” asked Rose. “ It came 
from Mr. Roberts. It is a book of photographic 
views of many places — in this country, and in 
Europe, and everywhere.” 

“ How nice that is. I would love to see it, 
Rose. But Alice and Laura, what did they get? 
They did as much as I did.” 

“ They did well, very well ; but it has not cost 
them suffering and ill-health as it has you,” said 
Mr. Gaylord. “ They have not been forgotten, 
however. But here they come now, and they 
can tell you themselves what they have received 
from our directors.” 

As the girls came in Rose said, “ Do your 
ears burn? We were just talking about you.” 

“ My ears burn and my cheeks and my arms, 
and my whole body, with this long walk on such 
a hot evening,” said Alice. 

u I am very warm too,” said Laura. “ And 
you look better, Margaret.” 

“I guess she is excited to-night,” said her 
mother. 

“ See, Alice, what Mr. Gaylord has just brought 
me.” And Margaret showed her bonds. 


MARGARET' S NEW FRIENDS. 


259 


“ W e know something about it.” 

Then Laura said, 

“Mr. Gaylord, we were looking for you to 
thank you for your part in sending us our gifts.” 

“No thanks,” said he. “No thanks to me. 
You deserve it all. You have done nobly and 
saved many lives. There were three hundred 
people on that train, and probably many would 
have been killed and many more injured severely, 
if you had not stopped the train. But let 
Margaret see your watches.” 

“ Watches !*” cried Margaret. 

“ Yes,” said Alice, “ I did not think I was go- 
ing to get one so soon, and such a lovely one, 
too.” 

And she drew out a beautiful gold watch, 
Laura’s was just like it. Each one had the ini- 
tials of its owner’s name engraved on it. 

Margaret examined and admired them, and for 
two or three minutes she was dazzled by their 
beauty, and felt as if their gifts were better than 
her own. 

Then her common sense returned, and she was 
ashamed of the feeling. She said, 

“ I believe I was envying you girls. But of 
course my gift is of far more use to me, than a 
watch would be. And it would be right if yours 


260 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


was the best. I am so thankful to you, Mr. Gay- 
lord, and to all these kind gentlemen. You must 
tell me how to write to them.” 

u I am sure you will do it just right, Margaret. 
Come, Rose, we must go, and let this dear girl 
get her supper, which her mother is bringing in.” 

Then Mr. Gaylord and Rose went away. But 
Laura and Alice, who had already had their tea, 
stayed and waited on Margaret, and spent the 
evening with her. 

It was from Dr. Pendleton’s big warm heart, 
that this plan came to send Margaret to the 
mountains. He talked of it to Mr. Gaylord, and 
Mr. Gaylord mentioned it to the officers of the 
railroad company. Now it remained to persuade 
Margaret to go, and the next day the doctor 
undertook this. 

It seemed a great hardship to her. She shrank 
from the journey, and the visit, among strangers, 
and the obligation to them. But Dr. Pendleton 
had an answer for all her objections, and made 
her see how much good it would do her to go. 
At last Margaret yielded sweetly to the good 
will of her friends who were planning for her 
benefit. But no one could tell how she dreaded 
going away from her mother. The tie that bound 
the widowed woman and the one fatherless child 


MARGARET'S NEW FRIENDS. 


261 


together was such a tender and absorbing love as 
is seldom seen. It was not a selfish sorrow merely 
that now fell upon Margaret’s heart. She felt 
for her mother and how she would be all alone, 
toiling all day for her child, who would not 
be there to greet her at night. Then she 
dreaded being without her mother’s loving care. 
No strangers could take her place. Suppose they 
should be cold and unsympathetic, how could she 
bear it ? 

These thoughts oppressed Margaret in the long 
summer day, and at night, when her mother 
thought she was sleeping, she wept, and though 
she did try bravely to conquer her depression of 
spirit, it was a vain effort. 

But a day or two after, Mrs. Russell came to 
sit with her, and, suspecting how she felt, drew 
the whole story from her. The telling of it was 
a relief, and Mrs. Russell’s sympathy was so lov- 
ing and tender that Margaret felt much better. 
Then she was comforted by her friend’s talk. 
She saw that her fears were not well founded. 
Mrs. Russell promised that her mother should 
not be left to feel lonely, and told her how much 
good she would do her mother by growing 
stronger, and carrying out her plan of going to 
college and being thoroughly educated. 


262 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


“ You have been such a brave child always, 
and especially in saving the train; do not lose 
your courage now,” said Mrs. Russell. 

So Margaret went on with the preparations for 
her journey with a braver heart and much more 
cheerful face. She even sang again, and the 
neighbors said, “ Our song-bird has come back 
again.” 

On Wednesday Mr. Gaylord brought her a 
despatch he had received from Mr. Roberts say- 
ing that he would pass through the city Friday 
noon, and if Margaret was ready to go, he would 
accompany her as far as Pittsburg. 

All the girls went down to the station to see 
Margaret off on her journey. Mr. Roberts was 
introduced to her by Rose, and when Margaret 
saw his face her last fears left her. Though 
the tears rolled down her cheeks as she hung 
on her mother’s neck, yet it was with a much 
lighter heart than she had thought possible that 
she saw the station and the dear ones about it 
melt away in the distance. 

Soon Mr. Roberts came and wanted her to 
show him where the obstructions had been placed, 
and to point out the corner where the villains 
were hiding. The last Margaret could not do, as 
it was on top of the hill. Then the conductor 


MARGARET'S NEW FRIENDS. 


263 


who had been in charge of the train that day- 
asked for an introduction to Margaret, and the 
story of the attempted wreck and Margaret’s hero- 
ism spread among the passengers. Some nice- 
looking ladies came to talk to her, and altogether 
she had quite a reception for a time. She made 
friends with some delightful people who were 
going all the way. In fact the modest little girl 
traveled like a little princess, for Mr. Roberts 
had made the most perfect arrangements for 
her comfort and everybody seemed a friend. 
When the train climbed the mountains the next 
morning, Margaret forgot everything else in look- 
ing at the grand views that unfolded as it swept 
around one point after another. To the child, 
who had never seen any high hills, the moun- 
tains spoke with a voice she had never before 
heard, and awakened feelings that had lain 
dormant until now. Her soul was filled with 
awe and reverent love toward the Almighty 
Creator who had piled these great masses upon 
the solid earth. She began to recall her father’s 
talks about the mountains of Scotland. One 
evening while she was at Cresson, as they were 
sitting on the piazza of the hotel watching the 
sunset, an old gentleman read to them, with fine 
effect, Coleridge’s Hymn at Sunrise in the Yale 


264 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


of Chamouni, and this was always afterwards 
one of her favorites. 

When Mrs. Roberts met her at the station she 
took Margaret to her heart in a very kind, sym- 
pathetic way. Helen at once became her friend, 
and the two girls soon grew to love each other. 
Each day was a new delight and the month was 
gone almost before Margaret knew it. 


CHAPTEK XXIII. 


THE HARVEST. 

Artists are the moments too, 

Ever painting something new 
On the walls and in the air, 

Painting pictures everywhere ! 

Let us then so careful be, 

That they bear for you and me, 

On their little noiseless wings, 

Only good and pleasant things ; 

And that pictures which they paint 
Have no background of complaint : 

So the angel, memory, 

May not blush for you and me ! 

Poems of Home Life. 

There were three ladies who were in the habit 
of going to the jail on Sunday afternoon to read 
the Bible to the prisoners when there were any 
confined there. Sometimes there were none at all 
for weeks. These ladies took with them papers 
and books. One of the papers, which they left, 
as some might say, by chance, but “ Eternal God 
that chance did guide,” contained an account of 

the attempt made to wreck the train, and quite a 

265 


266 ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 

history of Margaret, and something about her 
father. 

When Jim Young read this he was struck 
dumb with amazement. He laid down the papers, 
and instead of the four stone walls of his prison 
he saw the green mountains that surrounded his 
home in childhood and he heard the cheery voice 
of his playmate, Robert Marshall. He seemed 
once more to be climbing the hills, and wading 
in the streams that made merry music as the two 
boys followed them with their fishing-poles and 
lines in hand. 

“ Robert Marshall’s girl,” he said to himself. 
“ Such a brave girl ! And it must take his girl, 
and she lame and poor, to undo the wickedness 
of such a low beast as I am now.” 

All that night he thought of his guilt. He 
raved, and cursed himself. He cursed the sa- 
loons and the men that sold him the liquor. He 
had been drinking so much that he was almost 
sick from the effects of it. As the night passed 
on he grew quieter, and then came memories of 
his father and mother who were kind and faith- 
ful parents, but who had died when he was still 
a boy. He thought of all the hard times he had 
seen since, and of the bad company he had fallen 
into when he left his early home. How much 


THE HAR VEST. 


267 


better it would have been if he had stayed with 
his uncle till he was older, and followed his 
counsel. And then he thought again of his guilt. 
He was a murderer in heart and purpose. Many 
times a murderer ; for if their plan had succeeded 
many would have been killed and many more in- 
jured. He felt it all deeply. He said, “ I am 
not fit to live ; and if I get what I deserve I 
shall be hung and then go to hell forever/’ 

Then he remembered the prayers he had 
learned at his mother’s knee, and the Bible 
verses and catechism she had taught him so care- 
fully. And through them the Spirit of God now 
brought him to true repentance. 

When the ladies came in the next time to 
see these men they found one ready to listen to 
them, and a few words showed that James Young 
was very thoughtful and serious. They noticed 
his Scotch accent and told an aged Scotch lady 
about him. Mrs. McGregor went the next day 
to see him. When he looked at her kind face 
all alive with feeling, and heard the accents of 
his mother’s tongue, his heart was melted and the 
tears stood in his eyes. 

With great sympathy and tenderness Mrs. Mc- 
Gregor drew from him the story of his childhood 
and all his life. Oh, if she had only known 


268 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


when he lived and worked in the city, she might 
have sought him out then, and he might have 
been saved from much sin. Ought we not to 
know about all the men that live near us, and 
work for our comfort in so many ways ? Ought 
we not to be kind to them and seek to surround 
them with good influences, even though they 
stand off and seem to prefer what is evil and 
injurious ? 

Thinking these thoughts, Mrs. McGregor 
talked to him while the tears came freely now, 
and he was not ashamed of them. 

She gave him good counsel and then she 
prayed with him. The result of this and other 
visits was that James Young was converted. 

One Sunday afternoon the minister and elders 
of the church and a few others went to the jail 
and held a service there. James Young made a 
confession of his sins and told the story of his 
conversion. He was received by them as a 
brother in the family of Christ, and united with 
them in a communion service. 

When his case came up for trial he pleaded 
guilty. The attorney, Mr. Gaylord, asked the 
court to be merciful and give him a light sen- 
tence, and he was sent to the penitentiary for 
the shortest time possible under the law. 


THE HARVEST. 


269 


In a few words some of his after life may be 
told. After serving out his time he came back 
to the city to live and prove that he wished to 
be a good man. He asked for work, and the 
elders of the church helped him to get it. One 
of them employed him and gave him books and 
papers to read. He united with the church and 
is now living a sober, industrious life. He has 
gained the confidence of many people, and is 
doing a good work among the railroad men and 
other laborers. He has a pew of his own in 
the church which he aims to have filled with men 
every Sunday morning and evening, and it is not 
often that he fails to get them there. 

Mr. Alexander, the superintendent of the 
Sabbath-school, had noticed that the increased 
attendance was only one sign of the growth of 
the school at this time. There was a more 
serious attention to the lessons in all the older 
classes. In Mrs. Russell’s class there was a great 
change. The experiences of the summer and 
the lessons they had learned from them had the 
effect of making the girls more thoughtful and 
serious. Life seemed to them to be opening out 
in a more earnest way. They saw that even a 
short life could be a useful and successful one. 
Life seemed to be holding out to them rich treas- 


270 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS . 


ures of knowledge that might be theirs forever, 
and they began to see the worth of these higher 
pleasures of the mind. They wanted to grow in 
mind and character. 

The teachers and officers of the school con- 
sulted together. Some of the teachers visited 
their scholars and found them ready to listen to 
their most earnest talk. There could be no 
doubt that many prayers were being answered. 
The Spirit of God was there with his blessed in- 
fluence, awakening minds that had been careless 
about spiritual truth. With happy hearts the 
teachers eagerly took advantage of the change 
and pressed home the truth upon the attentive 
scholars. Then the time came when the seed 
was ripening and the sickle must be thrust in to 
gather the grain that was ready for the harvest. 

Therefore, one Sabbath morning toward the 
close of October, Mr. Alexander shortened the 
usual time for the lessons, and after singing and 
prayer asked their pastor to address the school. 
This is what Dr. Porter said : 

“ You all know in what a remarkable way the 
men were caught, who attempted to wreck the 
railroad train a few weeks ago. It seemed such 
a wonderful thing that the photographic camera 
should take the face of that man when none of 


THE HARVEST. 


271 


the girls saw him. There are other more won- 
derful things which the camera does in that way. 
In all the large observatories cameras are attached 
to the telescopes and take pictures of the stars. 
There are millions of the stars seen through the 
telescopes, that we cannot see with our eyes un- 
aided. They are too small or too far away for 
our feeble sight. The astronomers are making 
maps of the heavens by taking these pictures. 
But there is a most wonderful discovery made on 
these photographic maps. There are stars there 
that no one has ever seen, even through the 
largest telescopes. 

“ When I read of all these things they remind 
me of this text in the Bible, ‘ Thou God seest 
me.’ His eye is upon us all the time though we 
know that no human eye beholds us. He sees 
and knows our every action. He reads and under- 
stands our every thought. He detects and un- 
derstands the feelings in our hearts even when 
we do not understand them very well. None of 
our friends may know the wicked thoughts we 
have in our hearts, or the evil things we have 
done and covered up. But God knows them. 
His eye is upon them. 

“ When I was a boy I lived in Cincinnati, and 
I will tell you a story I heard then, but I do not 


272 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


know just when the event took place. The Cin- 
cinnati observatory was then on Mt. Adams, 
which is near the river on the east side of the city. 
It was not the smoky place then that it is now, 
and often the air was quite clear. One evening 
Professor Mitchell was looking at the evening star 
just after sunset. It hung above the horizon for 
a short time, and the professor followed it down 
the western sky till he saw it shining through a 
peach orchard on Price Hill, which is on the 
west side of the city, perhaps five miles from 
Mt. Adams. Then his attention was drawn from 
heavenly things to earthly sins. Some boys came 
into view climbing the fence to steal peaches. 
The astronomer saw them look carefully around to 
see if any one was near to watch them, before 
they jumped down and took the fruit. He saw 
their faces and knew who they were. But they 
little thought that some one five miles away was 
watching them and reading almost their thoughts. 
So there is an eye upon every man, woman, boy, 
and girl every moment of their lives. 

“ But our actions and thoughts are not only 
known, they are also recorded in God’s hooks, 
as the picture is printed by the sun on the 
sensitive plate of the camera. One of these 
books is the human mind. Another book is the 


THE HARVEST. 


273 


mind of God. How many other books there may 
be we do not know. There may be angels ap- 
pointed to keep a record of all we do. God has 
given us a faculty we call memory, to receive im- 
pressions of things that happen, and to keep them ; 
and it does this quite faithfully. W e may think 
we have forgotten many things entirely, but 
afterwards they are often recalled to our minds 
in a very surprising way. Henry Clay once said 
in one of his speeches : ‘ The power of forget- 

ting the past is a power that is denied to Omni- 
potence itself/ 

66 6 God can do all things/ we say, but can God 
forget ? c All things are naked and opened unto 
the eyes of him with whom we have to do/ And 
we do not know how much our minds may be 
able to recall when the Spirit of God shall quicken 
our memories. Oh, children, if you would have 
happy memories of your earthly life, think only 
pure, kind thoughts, do only the right things ; 
else some day your thoughts and words and deeds 
will return to plague you. They will be like 
gnats, and wasps, and hornets, and vipers, from 
whose stings you cannot escape. 

“ But there is one other truth brought out 
very clearly by the recent unusual occurrences. 

It is this : 

18 


274 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


a The eye of God is upon us as the watchful eye 
of a loving Father . Here was this wicked man, 
who was once a pure boy, the child of Christian 
parents. They had instructed him, prayed for 
him, and, dying, committed him to the care of 
God. He fell into sin, little by little, stifling the 
voice of conscience, and choosing evil companions 
instead of good, and had become almost a hope- 
less case. He wandered far from his home : but 
he did not get beyond the watchful eye, and lov- 
ing care of God. He hardened his heart and 
shut God out of it : still, though he had cast off 
God, God had not cast off him. 

“ And so in this strange way, in this remarkable 
way, God apprehended him in the very midst of 
his most outrageous sins. He saved him from 
this great crime after he had it all but completed. 
God chose the messenger to defeat his plan, the 
daughter of one of his old friends and playmates. 

“ Strange as this may seem such things are hap- 
pening in the world all the time. Space is noth- 
ing, time is nothing in the way of God’s plans. 
People move half way around the world to carry 
on their own business and pleasure, and find that 
God has sent them to do some work for him that 
was awaiting them there and that perhaps no one 
else but that one person could do. 


THE HAR VEST. 


275 


“ My young friends, let me urge you to give 
your hearts now to this loving Father,. He knows 
each one of you and all that you have done. He 
stands ready to blot your sins out of his books, in 
which they are recorded against you, with the 
blood of Jesus. Then you will not be called to 
an account for them. Come now to God through 
Jesus Christ without delay. In your youth love 
the Saviour who died for you, who died and rose 
again and ever liveth to be your Friend, your best, 
your truest, your greatest Friend. This was his 
last message to us: ^ All power is given unto 
me in heaven and in earth. Lo, I am with 
you alway, even unto the end of the world.’ 
Learn to be like him. Learn to obey him. Then 
the deeds that are recorded of you will be those 
you will take pleasure in remembering as the 
years pass away.” 

The pastor then in a few tender words invited 
those who had lately given their hearts to God 
and those who wished to do so now, to rise and 
let it be known, that special prayer might be made 
for them. 

This address produced a great effect. It re- 
vealed how much deep feeling there was among 
the young people. Fifteen rose in response to 
the invitation. Some were silently weeping, 


276 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


others had shining eyes, others still who had be- 
gun to love their Saviour, rose eagerly, their 
faces beaming with joy, and smiling to their young 
companions to encourage them to come to Christ. 
Ethel was one of the first upon her feet ; then 
Margaret and Laura and Alice rose. This en- 
couraged others, and Rose was seen among them. 
Laura looked at Elsie but she shook her head, 
although it was evident she was very much moved 
and was trying to resist her feelings and the 
voice of conscience. When Mary at her side 
made a movement to rise, she laid her hand on 
Mary’s and restrained her from the step she 
would have taken. 

Mrs. Russell saw it all. She was sorry that 
Elsie was striving to repress her own feelings ; 
but she was very much shocked at her conduct in 
trying to hinder another from coming to Christ. 

Elsie was one of those amiable persons, who 
are too indolent to differ with others, who are 
not very quick to read other people’s feelings, 
whose moral sense is not fine, but dull. She did 
not want to become a Christian now, and if all the 
other girls did she would be left alone in this re- 
gard. It was not pleasant to think of, and so 
she did what she did. She hardly realized the 
great injury she might have done to Mary. She 


THE HAR VEST. 


277 


came perilously near committing the sin our 
Saviour calls “ offending one of his little ones/’ 
and of which he says, it were better that a person 
had a millstone hung around his neck and that he 
be cast into the depth of the sea, than do such a 
thing. 

During the week Mrs. Russell visited all her 
scholars again. She took especial care to talk 
faithfully with Mary Robinson, and by God’s 
help she overcame the evil Elsie had done by her 
influence. Mary became a Christian. She also 
went to see Elsie more than once and reasoned 
with her. She showed her the beauty of the 
Christian life. She dwelt very strongly on the 
duty of loving and serving Christ. She showed 
her the sin and danger of striving against God, 
when by his Spirit he is seeking to do us the 
highest good by giving us new hearts. 

But though Elsie was deeply moved she would 
not yield her heart to God. Mrs. Russell was 
surprised that Ethel should be the first to come 
to Christ and that Elsie should hold out against 
his loving Spirit. But so it often is. And the 
miracle of divine grace is all the greater in 
the conversion of those whose disposition and 
life makes them seem the most unlikely to come 
to Christ. 


278 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


In the following week other meetings were 
held, and the revival spread to other churches. 
A few weeks later, one bright Sunday morning 
a good many united with the church, and 
among them were Alice and her two friends, 
Margaret and Ethel, and Laura, Rose and Mary. 
Mr. Donahue also consecrated his life to Christ. 
It was a happy day for all, but especially for Mrs. 
Russell. She had hoped that all her class would 
he brought in at this time, hut the rest were 
not ready. She was not discouraged about them, 
however. She felt that she could work for them 
with much faith and hope, for they had received 
many impressions they could not forget. Now 
she had six helpers. She knew that with their 
influence she could keep a much better atmos- 
phere about these girls. She began at once to 
nourish and train their young Christian life, that 
it might grow strong and be active in good works. 


CHAPTER XXIY. 


Alice’s birthday. 

“Beautiful lips are those whose words 
Leap from the heart like songs of birds, 

Yet whose utterance prudence girds. 

Beautiful hands are those that do 
Work that is earnest and brave and true, 

Moment by moment the long day through. 

Beautiful feet are those that go 
On kindly ministries to and fro — 

Down lowliest ways if God wills it so. 

Beautiful lives are those that bless — 

Silent rivers of happiness 

Whose hidden fountains but few men guess.” 

Margaret did not return from the mountains 
until the middle of October. She stayed long 
enough to see them dressed in their gorgeous 
autumnal foliage. And this change of color, 
coming at the end of her visit gave a climax to 
her enjoyments there, and a succession of de- 
lightful pictures as she traveled homeward. 


280 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


Those who see only the bright colors of the 
maple and oak and other trees near at hand, do 
not know the beauty with which they clothe the 
hills and mountains. There the trees rise one 
above another into the sky, and the masses of 
color are broken up by belts of evergreens. 
It is like a great panorama, changing from day 
to day until it fades into russet brown. 

Then came the gladness of the return home 
the warm embrace of her mother, and the eager 
welcome of the girls. 

She said to her mother, 

“I cannot describe the mountains. There 
were such wonderful transformations every 
day. There they stood like old friends, but al- 
ways changing as if they had some new story to 
tell us. I can understand now how papa felt 
when he talked to us about Scotland. Somehow 
I felt more at home there than I do in this flat 
country.” 

“ You are your father’s own child,” her mother 
answered. “ It is because you have caught so 
much of his spirit, and are so like him in your 
feelings and tastes.” 

Margaret was happy to be again at home. 
She clung to her mother all the evening, and the 
girls, when they saw how her eyes followed her 


ALICE'S BIRTHDAY. 


281 


mother, left them to each other. Mrs. Marshall 
would have been glad to stay with her the next 
day, but her duties at the store would not allow 
of her absence at this busy season. And besides 
Margaret must be in school. After losing a 
month every day was precious. 

She found a tricycle in the hall to carry her to 
school, which some of the gentlemen had bought 
for her, knowing how far she would have to go 
to the high school building. 

The principal of the school gave her a place in 
the B. grade, for he knew that she would soon 
make up the studies she had lost. So now she 
found herself in the same class with all her friends 
except Emily and Lucy, who had entered on their 
first year in the high school. 

“ How bright and well you look,” all the girls 
said when they saw her ; “ and we are so glad to 
have you back again.” 

And it was true. She was wonderfully im- 
proved by her month in the mountains. She 
had a clear color, a bright eye and a monstrous 
appetite. She had gained more strength than she 
had known for several years. She had many 
delightful things to tell the girls about her jour- 
ney and her visit. And she had hardly a chance 
to eat her dinner the first few days at the noon. 


282 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


intermission. She had several messages from 
Helen Roberts to Rose. 

Margaret’s mother was doing so well now in 
her position at the store that she would not let 
her child work any more at the egg-fillers. She 
made her go out in the air more, and use her 
tricycle, and in this way Margaret kept up 
the strength she had gained in the mountain 
air. 

When Laura asked Mrs. Russell to form a 
circle of King’s Daughters, she favored it at once. 
All the class joined it willingly. After making 
arrangements to take Thanksgiving dinners to 
several old ladies and two poor families, they 
looked around for something else to do. Mr. 
Alexander asked them to clothe some of the 
poor children who had lately been brought 
into the Sunday-school. The girls were afraid 
of such an undertaking. It was difficult work 
and there was a good deal of it. But Mrs. Russell 
approved of it and persuaded them to do it. She 
thought such work for Christ would not only 
develop their love for him, and their sympathy for 
the poor, in a practical way, but also give them 
good ideas about dress. She promised to help 
them in every way — in selecting garments and in 
cutting, fitting and repairing them. 


ALICE'S BIRTHDAY. 


283 


None of them liked over well to sew, and the 
most of them would rather have done anything 
else. Some of them had not done any sewing 
since they stopped making doll’s dresses and 
hats. Mrs. Russell knew all this and thought it 
was time they were learning to sew neatly, and 
to use the machine, and she hoped they would 
not only learn something about it, but grow to 
like it. 

They had many pleasant and some funny 
things to talk of which they heard and saw 
when they sought out the children in their homes. 
They also had some fun in collecting second-hand 
garments and hats, and the money to buy new 
shoes and stockings, and other articles they re- 
quired in their work. Part of this money they 
themselves gave, but they soon found they needed 
a good deal, for healthy boys and girls kick out 
shoes very fast. They also began to realize bet- 
ter how much their own clothing cost, and to 
appreciate what their parents had done for them 
all their thirteen years. 

Once a week they met to sew and make over 
these things, and very interesting times they had. 
On Sunday they would go early to school and 
watch to see “ their children,” as they called 
them, come in. Sometimes Emily would say, 


284 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


u Ethel, I see your hat coming in, and there is 
Laura’s jacket, and here comes Rose’s pretty 
blue dress she wore two years ago.” Another 
would say, “ There is that dress we had such a 
time fixing over, and it looks very nice.” But 
they soon outgrew this way of talking and often 
stopped to speak to the children and learned to 
have a real sympathy for them. 

The twelfth of December came around at last 
and Alice was thirteen years old. Her mother 
had promised her a party, and Alice had invited 
the girls in her class and a few others. It was 
Tuesday, and they could not go till school was 
out at half-past three. They were all on their 
good behavior that day, for they did not want to 
lose any of their pleasure by being kept in after 
school. And they had such unusually good reci- 
tations that the teacher dismissed them fifteen 
minutes earlier. Hurrying to their homes they 
soon were ready and flocked up to Mrs. Russell’s 
house, a happy troop, and filled it with laughter 
and gayety. 

Each one brought Alice a present, and as they 
were nearly all made by the girls themselves, the 
table where they were laid seemed covered with 
sweet thoughts that had grown into beautiful and 
useful articles ; as if the hands that made them 


ALICES BIRTHDAY. 


285 


had threaded their needles with kindness and 
dipped their brushes in love. 

As Alice had already received a watch, Mr. 
and Mrs. Russell could not carry out their pur- 
pose to give her one on this birthday. Alice had 
faithfully kept her part of the agreement, and 
studied hard at the language exercises and 
geography lessons, and she was much more in- 
terested in them than she had been the year be- 
fore. She had fairly earned the promised reward. 
So her father, bought her a small oak bookcase, 
and her mother, a handsome writing-desk to match 
it. These were placed in her own room while 
she was at breakfast. They were very much ad- 
mired by all the girls. Mr. Russell afterwards 
was amused to learn that he had started a new 
fashion among the girls, who all wanted book- 
cases and desks, though some of them had but 
few books to put in them. But he said, “ It is 
a good thing. They will get the books. The 
way to get a library is to buy a bookcase ; then 
the empty shelves hunger to be filled.” 

After they had all arrived and examined 
the presents, they began to say, “ What shall we 
do now?” “Let us have some music.” “No! 
no ! let us play games,” were the conflicting 
wishes. Mrs. Russell and Alice had thought it 


286 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


all over, and now Alice said, “ Don’t you want 
to have the music after a while ? ” Mrs. Russell 
added, “ It is just the right time for hide-and- 
seek, as it is growing dark. You have been in 
school all day, and a romp will be good for you. 
You may go all over the house except in my din- 
ing-room and kitchen.” 

They certainly did make a good deal of noise, 
running and calling and sometimes screaming 
with fun, but no one was disturbed by it. When 
they were tired of this, Lucy proposed a game 
that was new to them. She had brought some 
nuts and candy for it. She said she would hide 
them in ever so many places while all were out 
of the room. The one that found the most 
pieces, could take it all and hide it again, or pass 
it round for a treat. 

After this they had some music. Alice played a 
sonatina she had lately learned. Bessie sang, and 
Elsie Dayton and others played. Then Mr. 
Russell and Edgar came in, and they all sang 
together Sabbath-school songs until supper was 
ready. A very nice supper it was, but the birth- 
day cake with its thirteen candles and fairy in the 
center was the greatest attraction. 

After supper they walked about a few minutes. 
Then Margaret said, 


ALICE'S BIRTHDAY. 


287 


“ Let us play a game I learned while I was 
away at the mountains. It is called, ‘ What is it 
like, and why ? ’ ” 

“ How do you play it ? ” asked Rose. 

Margaret explained, and after some disputing 
Lucy was sent out of the room. When she was 
called back Laura said, 

“We have chosen an object in this room.” 

“What is it like, and why, Laura ? 

“ Like an animal, because it has four legs.” 

“ Emily, what is it like, and why ? ” 

“ Like a lovely young lady, because it has 
white teeth.” 

“ Are they real or false teeth ? ” 

“ I can’t say. That isn’t a fair question.” 

“ How many ? ” 

“Never mind.” 

“ Margaret, what is it like, and why ? ” 

“ Like a bird, because it has sweet music in it.” 

Lucy’s eyes, which were roving around the 
room, lighted up, but she next asked Rose the 
question. 

“ It is like old Mrs. Murphy, because it wears 
a green cloak,” answered Rose. 

“ The piano,” said Lucy. 

“ Yes ; who made you guess it ? ” said Alice. 

“ Margaret, I think.” 


288 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


“ I will go out,” said Margaret. 

This time they chose a stuffed owl that stood 
on a high perch. 

Margaret besran at the other end of the room 
with her question. 

“ Mary, what is it like, and why?” 

“ A cat — ” said Mary, and stopped. 

“ But why ? ” 

“ Oh, if I tell, you will know right away.” 

u But you must give a good reason.” 

“ W ell, if I must, I must — because it looks 
like one,” said Mary laughing. 

“ Oh ! ” said some of the girls who could not 
see the resemblance. 

“ Ethel, you come next.” 

“ Like Mr. Peters, because it wears a swallow- 
tail coat.” 

“ Bessie ? ” 

“ It is like a school-teacher because it looks 
wise.” 

This enlightened Margaret, but she kept on. 

“ Emily?” 

“ It is like all of us since supper.” 

“ But why ? ” 

“ Don’t you see ? Because we all are stuffed.” 

“ The owl of course,” said Margaret ; and Emily 
was sent out to punish her for this speech, ^1- 




ALICES BIRTHDAY. 


289 





though Margaret said she knew what it was 
before Emily answered. 

After this game was over they had some very 
pretty charades. One word — three syllables in 
one act — that made all of them laugh was “ Gal- 
vest-on.” Another was “ incandescent/’ 

Edgar drew the curtains together in the arch 
and said, “ I will give you a small show. Emily 
Carroll, you be on guard, so that no one 
peeps.” 

In a few minutes he announced “ The Best 
Family Horse,” and threw back the curtains and 
there stood a large clothes-horse. 

After this Rose announced, “ A charade in 
two syllables, one act.” As she was the only one 
who had withdrawn behind the curtains the girls 
wondered how she would do the charade alone. 
When Edgar drew the curtains apart there was 
Rose herself, the mimic, dressed as an old- 
fashioned woman, her round face drawn down as 
long as she could make it, and saying, 

“ Papa, potatoes, poultry, prunes, prisms.” 

The girls were puzzled, but soon Margaret said, 
“ Primrose,” and Rose came forward laughing. 
“ I thought Laura would guess it.” 

“ I was not looking for evening primroses in 
December. What a nice time we did have on 
19 


290 


ALICE AND HER TWO FRIENDS. 


that flower excursion last summer ; and how much 
grew out of it.” 

“ We must have another next spring or sum- 
mer,” said Bessie, and all the girls agreed with 
her and began to plan for it, and to beg Mrs. 
Russell to take them out again. 

After more music this little party came to an 
end, and the girls went home with only happy 
memories of the pleasant evening they had spent 
together. 

Here these girls may well be left under the 
fostering care of their faithful friend and teacher, 
Mrs. Russell, to grow up from happy childhood 
to an earnest youth and useful womanhood. The 
love of Christ in their hearts, and a common in- 
terest in his service, will make the bond of friend- 
ship stronger and sweeter, between Alice and her 
two friends. 


THE END. 




























